This past summer, I was fortunate enough to spend three weeks in Italy, much of which I have chronicled in this space. The first week I was there was spent in Umbria, with several wine professionals in a beautiful villa close to the middle of nowhere.
Our villa for the week, which, among other incredible attributes…
…provided seven amazing sunsets.
One of the days during that week, we left the cozy confines of our little slice of Italy and headed to Montefalco, the center of Umbrian wine production and famed for Montefalco Sagrantino. Sagrantino is grape that is rarely seen outside of the region and can produce some of the biggest, most tannic wines on the planet.
Our first stop was at the hilltop winery, Le Cimate, which, fittingly, means “top of the hill” in Italian. The winery was founded in 2011, but the Bartoloni family has been a fixture in the local agricultural scene since the early 1800s. They own upwards of 170 hectares (391 acres) of land, 23 of which (53 acres) are planted to wine grapes. Some of that additional land is planted to olives and hazelnuts, and the resulting products are also sold in the winery.
The first stop was La Cimate, now run by third-generation winemaker Paolo Bartoloni, who has a more modern approach to both the wine business and Sagrantino.
Yeah, you want to see “Climate” but it is “Cimate” (See-mah-tay).
Sagrantino, is not for the faint of heart. According to our host (and current winemaker), Paolo Bartoloni, the variety, along with Tannat, are the two most tannic grapes in the world. The story goes that when the Papacy moved to Avignon in the 14th Century, they planted some Sagrantino in the surrounding areas. Many believe that the grape that is now known as Tannat is the direct descendant of those original papal plantings.
Paolo is not just a handsome man, he is a wealth of local knowledge; who am I to argue with this dude?
After a brief tour of the facility, Paolo gave us a quick rundown of the history of the winery as we tasted through his wines, which were paired with local breads (no salt in the bread in Umbria, about which I am not sure how I feel), cheeses, meats, and, of course, the olive oil.
The “light bites” that accompanied the wines was, essentially, lunch.
2024 Le Cimate Trebbiano Spoletino, Spoleto, Umbria, Italy: Retail 14€. 100% Trebbiano Spoletino (a local variety, not really seen outside of Spoleto or Montefalco). Fermented and aged in 100% stainless. steel. In a Riesling shaped bottle and the wine has some very Riesling-like characteristics. Brilliant straw color in the glass with plenty of lemon rind, white peach. and mineral and petrol notes on the nose. Fruity and rich on the palate with some acidity coming through on the midpalate. Lengthy and slightly salty finish. Very nice. Excellent. 92 Points.
2021 Le Cimate Trebbiano Spoletino Superiore DOC del Cavalier Bartoloni, Spoleto, Umbria, Italy: Retail 22€. Named after his grandfather. Aged in large oak casks. A rich, honeyed yellow (close to golden) in the glass with a rich and slightly oxidized nose of honeyed lemon rind and acacia flower. Close to a dessert wine characteristics in style and weight, but lacking any residual sugar; this is rich and layered on the palate with incredible balance and a finish that goes on forever. Whoa. Outstanding. 95 Points.
2024 Le Cimate Saudade Rosato, Umbria IGT, Italy: Retail 12€. 100% Sagrantino. The grapes macerate for two hours in the press before pressing. Slow, cold fermentation over 18 days. Medium to dark in color with plenty of strawberry and hints of cherry on the nose. Rich and full bodied, this is a big boy as one would expect from the variety. Rich, powerful, and assertive, this will certainly challenge what many think of “rosé”. Still? Very nice. Excellent. 92 Points.
2017 Le Cimate Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, Umbria, Italy: Retail 27€. 100% Sagrantino. Dark but still translucent in the glass, rich and close to brooding on the nose with dark fruit (cassis, blackberry, and plum) and a splash of anise. Rich and bruising on the palate this is big. Even really big, with big, powerful tannins. Even though Paolo has a more “modern” approach to Sagrantino, this is the current vintage, and it’s eight years past harvest. For lovers of the variety, this is fantastic. Very nice. But big. And needs an equally big side of beef. Excellent. 91 Points.
2015 Le Cimate Donna Giulia, Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, Umbria, Italy: Retail 65€. 100% Sagrantino. Just over 100 cases made. Made and named for his daughter who was born in 2015. The fruit comes from a small plot of Sagrantino, which was hand-harvested and left to macerate for four months (!). Then the wine spent 4 years in an oak cask, and another 4 years in bottle before it was released. Rich garnet in color, with a muted nose of black cherry but there’s also a bit of an oxidated, port aspect. Rich, even really rich on the palate with a passito, even Amarone aspect to it of intense, concentrated fruit that was drizzled with aged balsamic. Amazing. Make no mistake, the tannins are big and present, but they meld well into this wine. It might need another decade. Outstanding. 94 Points.
the drunken cyclist 