La Veneranda Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, Umbria, Italy

維納蘭達酒莊蒙特法爾科薩格蘭蒂諾紅葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：1300

Ripe red fruits, baking spices and walnuts with cedar undertones. Medium- to full-bodied, compact and a little chewy with spicy complexity and a dry, chalky finish. Drink or hold.

The La Veneranda 2020 Montefalco Rosso comes off as slightly sticky and hot with ripe fruit, dark concentration and medium complexity. The blend is 65% Sangiovese, 25% Sagrantino and 10% Merlot. It ferments in stainless steel and is moved over to oak casks for 18 months of aging. Mature fruit cedes to an apparent 14.5% alcohol content along with thick layers of prune and dark plum. Fruit is sourced from across 2.6 hectares with clay and some gravel soils. Production is 8,000 bottles.

This shows notes of red fruit, spices and dried flowers with some savory notes to it. Medium- to full-bodied, dry and firm with chalky tannins. Spiced and a little chewy at the end. Drink or hold.

A blend of Sangiovese, Sagrantino and Merlot, the La Veneranda's 2018 Montefalco Rosso shows hearty notes of black cherry and dark plum, with meaty tones of barbecue smoke, cured tobacco and cigar at the back. This is a heavy and wintery wine to pair with grilled meats or game. The wine shows bold intensity with dark fruit and oak spice over a full-bodied approach (and a powerful 15% alcohol content). Some 10,000 bottles were made.

Yikes, it's hard to get past the powerful tannic astringency of this wine. Packaged in a heavy glass bottle, the La Veneranda 2017 Montefalco Sagrantino is a wine of marked extremes. My sample is from the scorching hot 2017 vintage (although I think proprietor Eleonora Alessandrelli may have intended to submit the 2018 vintage, based on the accompanying documentation). The challenging vintage conditions partly explain these results. The wine shows loads of spice and toasted oak, resulting in a rather flat bouquet. It ages in oak casks for 36 months. This wine is ultimately remembered for its jackhammer tannins that remain unbalanced today and will continue to be so despite future cellar-aging efforts. This is a 12,000-bottle production.