2008 Sagrantino

Often referred to as “the best red wine you have NEVER tasted," Sagrantino is one of the more obscure Italian varieties that we now produce at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. Sagrantino is a relatively rare Umbrian grape variety with only an estimated 250 acres to 400 acres in production, all on the slopes of the hill around the town of Montefalco (east of Orvietto, north of Spoletto, south of Perugia, and 90 miles northeast of Rome). To put this in perspective 250-400 acres amounts to approximately 60,000 to 80,000 cases of wine. There are a few acres planted here in California in the Tracy Hills area (east of the Livermore Valley receiving the same cooling effects from bay fog).

Traditionally Sagrantino is made as a dessert wine, but when dessert wines fell out of favor during the 1970s and 1980s, many producers started experimenting making it as a dry table wine – discovering in the process that they had a “big gem” of a wine on their hands. “Big Gem” in this case means a wine that has concentrated flavors, dark color and a lot of tannins. However, for some reason, the tannins in the Sagrantino do not produce sharp flavors but instead have sweeter nuances. This allows it both to be drinkable when young and still have tremendous aging potential.