Paolo Bea "Cerrete" Sagrantino Secco di Montefalco 2012

Country: Italy

Region: Umbria

Type: Red Wine

Grape: Sagrantino

Paolo Bea started bottling wine in 1980 and has continued his family's tradition of natural winemaking; not using any chemical or artificial intervention in the vineyard or the winery, observing the phases of the moon and respecting nature above all.

The Bea family has owned a parcel in Cerrete, the highest-altitude vineyard in Montefalco, for some time, but it wasn’t until the 2007 vintage that Giampiero deemed the vines old enough to do justice to the cru’s potential. With its poor, mineral-rich soils and its acidity-preserving altitude (450 to 500 meters), Cerrete yields a wine not more powerful than Bea’s other pure-Sagrantino titan “Pagliaro,” but with greater nuance and a finer expression of detail. In acknowledgment of its stature, Giampiero gives it an additional year in large Slavonian oak, for a five-year elevage in barrel before the requisite long resting period in bottle.

Warmly spicy nose, with notes of fresh tobacco and moist soil. Elegant, with red and dark fruit characters. The greatness of the site expresses itself in the incredible finesse of this wine.