Tasting Report: Umbrian Wines

This is mostly a small report about Umbrian wines, although a few bottles are included from Lazio. Italy’s Umbria, for the most part, gets overlooked by many as a wine region due to the popularity of its neighbor Tuscany, as well as the production of millions of liters of simple and rustic whites, like Orvieto, or reds such as Sagrantino.

However, some very interesting reds and whites are coming out of Umbria at the moment, and I spent some time outside of the city of Orvieto tasting. Some of the wines were samples sent to my office, and others were from the top wine merchants of the region: Carlo Maggi and Alessandro Punzi of Enoteca La Loggia.

My top wines of the tastings were blends – some completely with international grape types and others combined with Italian ones. For example, I loved the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Falesco called Marciliano. The wine is made by the Cotarella brothers – Renzo is Antinori’s winemaker, and Riccardo is a recognized consulting enologist – and I much prefer its elegance to the often monolithic pure Merlot called Montiano. A blend called Phi from Maravalle was equally breathtaking and made from Montepulciano and Cabernet Franc.

I found a great Sagrantino too from Antonelli, as well as excellent ones from Còlpetrone. I find Sagrantino very rustic and hard at times, but these were balanced, subtly fruity, yet structured. The ripe 2007 vintage put the focus on fruit instead of unforgiving tannins.

Of course, don’t forget to check out the two vintages of Antinori’s Cervaro. It is always one of my favorite top Italian whites, and the blend of Chardonnay and Grechetto is fascinating. The barrel fermented and aged white would give any top Chardonnay a run for its money. I prefer the 2009 over the 2008 Cervaro.

Also tasted, but not receiving marks of 90 points or more:

2008 Falesco Lazio Ferentano 2010 Carini Umbria Poggio Canneto 2008 Paolo e Noemia d'Amico Umbria  2007 Cirulli Umbria Ritorto 2006 Le Velette Umbria Calcano 2008 Madonna del Latte Umbria Sucano 2006 Terre della Custodia Sagrantino di Montefalco  2009 Palazzone Orvieto Classico Campo del Guardiano 2007 Le Velette Umbria Il Raggio 2010 Madonna del Latte Umbria  2007 Barberani Umbria Polveto Villa Monticelli 2009 Terre della Custodia Umbria Plentis Grechetto Colli Martani 2010 Custodi Orvieto Classico Pertusa VT