2016 Agricola Romanelli, Sagrantino Montefalco DOCG, Terra Cupa, Umbria, Italy.
I was thrilled to try this nicely matured dark garnet 2016 Sagrantino Montefalco Terra Cupa by Umbrian natural winemaker Devis Romanelli, it was my first chance to try his red, after tasting some of his brilliant white wine and orang wine offerings previously, and it was showing fabulous with just the right amount of rustic tannins to remind me that it was Sagrantino, but full of poised red fruits, briar, spice, a touch of leather, delicate floral notes and light cedar shadings. The full bodied, but not aggressively firm, palate showed off brambly raspberry, dark cherry, dusty plum and dried red currant fruits, along with chalky stone, tar, anise, sage and lavender. The Romanelli wines estate, as I’ve mentioned before, is part of the family’s Romanelli Nature project, part sustainable farming and part eco-tourism, which the winery says, rejects chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides, striving to maintain a balance of the ecosystem, including the installation of bird boxes to promote natural pest control. The family wishes to share their passion and everyday experiences with the land, the vines, the local people and the microclimates of their property, which they hope will bring a greater understanding of their range of wines, that includes their Sagrantino bottlings, such as this one. This Terra Cupa Sagrantino Montefalco saw care berry selection, all de-stemmed, with nearly two months of skin maceration and fermentation for exceptional extraction and complexity of flavors. After dryness is completed Romanelli matured it for what he calls a long time, maybe 24 to 36 months, in oak barrels of different sizes, to tame the tannins, and it was rested in the bottle for at least a year before release.
Both Gambero Rosso and Slow Wine thave highlighted the rise in quality here and Romanelli’s reds, like this Terra Cupa, are from the Montefalco zone and are made mainly from the legendary Sagrantino grape, which makes for the most powerful wines in Umbria. Like the legendary Paolo Bea winery here in the Montefalco region, Romanelli’s grapes, are all holistically farmed by hand and the wines are done in a modern natural style, taking the best of old school tradition and making sure everything is done clean. The winery is located in the hills of Montefalco, in the heart of Umbria, situated in an area that is surrounded by both vineyards and olive groves, which family has cared for and preserved what nature has generously provided for them for three generations now, with Devis leading the wines to new heights through innovation, natural and ancient traditional methods. There is a holistic and all organic focus at Romanelli, where they believe that true quality is only obtained in nature from a set of healthy and balanced vines, that will provide perfectly ripened grapes. Though ripe, these Romanelli wines have tons of life and energy and retain some nice fresh acidity, again they remind me a little of the Paolo Bea wines, but distinctive in their own right. They use organic fertilizer, grass cover between the rows, careful management of the soils and foliage (canopy), as well as having good exposures of the grapes to the sun and exceptionally low yields for concentration and purity. Devis says the Terra Cupa, the name comes from the name of a road that runs alongside part of his most important vineyard, it’s a stretch of clay and limestone soil whose qualities are reminiscent of those of the plot from which the Sagrantino vineyard originates, is a true manifesto of his territory, a powerful and dynamic red, great with meaty dishes, which I highly recommend looking out for.
($48 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive