About two weeks ago Eric Guido, head of the review of Italian wines for Vinous (one of the most respected wine publications in the world, especially in the United States), has dedicated an article to the lesser known wineries of Umbria and Lazio and the wines that will soon have the notoriety they deserve.
Among these wines Eric points out Montefalco Sagrantino and how Umbrian producers have tried to make it more interesting to the eye (and of course to the palate) of consumers and wine lovers, obtaining a dark red wine, robust and powerful.
Compared to ten years ago, this year Eric has not neglected the less famous local wineries, being impressed by the excellent work of the producers of Montefalco Sagrantino, including our winery.
Visiting the Azienda Agricola Montioni, Eric decided to review some of our wines, giving them magnificent scores!
Our Montioni 2015 Montefalco Sagrantino Ma.Gia has awarded 93 points and so defined:
“The 2015 Montefalco Sagrantino Ma.Gia is like a kaleidoscope of Christmas goodness from the moment you put your nose to the glass. Cinnamon, allspice, clove, black cherries, dark chocolate, sweet mint and tobacco can all be found within. It’s silky-smooth and fleshy in feel, yet with stimulating acidity to balance, as mineral-tinged red berries and woodland herbal tones resonate throughout. The long and dramatic finale is only lightly structured, as fine tannins frame the experience nicely yet never get in the way, and tapers off with a juicy thrust of sweet fruit and hints of mocha. The Ma.Gia might be a bit of a showboat, but it’s also hard to resist.”
Our Montioni 2018 Montefalco Rosso, instead, has awarded 90 points:
“The 2018 Montefalco Rosso is pretty and delicate with a mix of wild berries, minty herbs, white smoke and violet inflections. This is silky in texture yet lifted in feel, casting red and hints of blue fruit across a solid core of brisk acids and minerals. It tapers off classically dry with a coating of sweet tannin that lingers, along with hints of cherry, exotic spice and tobacco. The 2018 is a blend of 65% Sangiovese, 20% Merlot and 15% Sagrantino that refines in barriques for 12 months, which the wine handles very well.”
Finally, our Montioni 2020 Grechetto has awarded 89 points, describing it:
“The 2020 Grechetto is perfumed with spicy florals, sour melon and citrus tones. This soothes with wonderfully soft textures, becoming quite salty and mineral-like the more time you spend with it. Green apple and an almondy richness linger quite long, yet the end note here is crisp and refreshing.”
Thank you Eric, we look forward to next year! We will gladly let you taste the new vintages of our wines!
On occasion, the winemaker may decide to leave them in if the grapes themselves contain less tannin than desired. This is more acceptable if the stems have ‘ripened’ and started to turn brown. If increased skin extraction is desired, a winemaker might choose to crush the grapes after destemming.
Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.
Removal of stems first means no stem tannin can be extracted. In these cases the grapes pass between two rollers which squeeze the grapes enough to separate the skin and pulp, but not so much as to cause excessive shearing or tearing of the skin tissues. In some cases, notably with “delicate” red varietals such as Pinot noir or Syrah, all or part of the grapes might be left uncrushed (called “whole berry”) to encourage the retention of fruity aromas through partial carbonic maceration.
The Grapes
The quality of the grapes determines the quality of the wine more than any other factor. Grape quality is affected by variety as well as weather during the growing season, soil minerals and acidity, time of harvest, and pruning method. The combination of these effects is often referred to as the grape’s terroir.
Grapes are usually harvested from the vineyard from early September until early November in the northern hemisphere, and mid February until early March in the southern hemisphere.
In some cool areas in the southern hemisphere, for example Tasmania, harvesting extends into May. The most common species of wine grape is Vitis Vinifera, which includes nearly all varieties of European origin. The most common species of wine grape is Vitis Vinifera, which includes nearly all varieties of European origin.
Manual harvesting is the hand-picking of grape clusters from the grapevines. In the United States, some grapes are picked into one- or two-ton bins for transport back to the winery. Manual harvesting has the advantage of using knowledgeable labor to not only pick the ripe clusters but also to leave behind the clusters that are not ripe or contain bunch rot or other defects. This can be an effective first line of defense to prevent inferior quality fruit from contaminating a lot or tank of wine.
Destemming is the process of separating stems from the grapes. Depending on the winemaking procedure, this process may be undertaken before crushing with the purpose of lowering the development of tannins and vegetal flavors in the resulting wine. Single berry harvesting, as is done with some German Trockenbeerenauslese, avoids this step altogether with the grapes being individually selected.
Crushing is the process when gently squeezing the berries and breaking the skins to start to liberate the contents of the berries. Destemming is the process of removing the grapes from the rachis (the stem which holds the grapes).
In traditional and smaller-scale wine making, the harvested grapes are sometimes crushed by trampling them barefoot or by the use of inexpensive small scale crushers. These can also destem at the same time. However, in larger wineries, a mechanical crusher/destemmer is used. The decision about destemming is different for red and white wine making. Generally when making white wine the fruit is only crushed, the stems are then placed in the press with the berries. The presence of stems in the mix facilitates pressing by allowing juice to flow past flattened skins.
Katerina Monroe
@katerinam • More Posts by Katerina
Congratulations on the award, it's well deserved! You guys definitely know what you're doing. Looking forward to my next visit to the winery!
