Preview Sagrantino has decided once again this year to bring forward the presentation of the 2018 vintage of Montefalco Sagrantino Docg and of the new vintages of the denominations of the territory of Montefalco and Spoleto. The appointment for the international press is set for 25 and 26 May, with the aim not only of tastings but also of making the territory and its gastronomic jewels known in a particularly favorable period of the year in which nature and the environment express themselves to the best-
For the third year, the assessment of the 2018 Montefalco Sagrantino Docg vintage will be expressed in hundredths, analyzing the individual parameters that make up the overall assessment, also thanks to the work of the External Commission, made up of nationally and internationally renowned journalists and sommeliers, who will support the technical one in examining the new vintage. The rating in stars, which will be expressed in parallel, will make up the portfolio of the old vintages. All elements that will provide an exhaustive picture of the new vintage but also of the evolutionary capacities of the dry and passito Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, as well as of the wines belonging to the Montefalco DOC and Spoleto DOC denominations of the participating cellars.
“Anteprima Sagrantino confirms itself as an appointment of great attraction for the press, especially the international one – says Giampaolo Tabarrini, president of the Consorzio Tutela Vini Montefalco – which we hope, obviously taking into account the limitations still in force, will be present again. At the center of the next edition of Anteprima Sagrantino there will be the wines of Montefalco, of course, but our goal is also to present the whole territory in an integrated way. Umbria, in all its forms, arouses curiosity and interest on international markets, because the connection between the territory and wine production works and is successful. Umbria has characteristics that make it unique in the world and under its brand, which is getting stronger and stronger, regional viticulture can take advantage of an increasingly concrete opportunity for positioning and strengthening. Preview Sagrantino is an important showcase for Montefalco and its wines, in a period of the year in which the beauty of the places is enhanced by a very pleasant environmental condition that enhances even more the beauty of our places, in which landscape, history, architecture and art come together in a unicum of powerful suggestion”.
Montefalco, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, is located on top of a hill overlooking the plain of the Topino and Clitunno rivers. For this favorable panoramic position, since 1568 it has been given the nickname of "Balcony of Umbria". From here, on the clearest days, from various lookout points it is possible to admire a 360° panorama that sweeps over the entire valley between Perugia and Spoleto, from the slopes of the Sub-Apennines to those of the Martani Mountains.
According to tradition, the toponym Montefalco is due to Frederick II of Swabia. The emperor, visiting the places in the thirteenth century, noting the large number of falcons, decided to change the name of the place from Coccorone (Cors Coronae) to the current one.
Nothing is known with certainty about the origin of Sagrantino. It is hypothesized that it is not a local variety but an imported one, perhaps from one of the numerous followers of St. Francis of Assisi. One circumstance reinforces this hypothesis. In 1452, at the foot of Montefalco, on a small hill, in Camiano, the General Chapter of the Franciscan Third Order was held, which was then born and had detached itself from the Conventual of Assisi and here a community was created founded by Angelo Clareno, the friars of poor life. Franciscan friars and monks arrived in this area from practically every part of the then known world; therefore, nothing easier than this grape variety to arrive through them. But there is also another suggestive hypothesis. In remote times, in the monastery of San Leonardo there was also a well-known and quite efficient hospital and therefore a point of attraction for a multitude of pilgrims who went on the road carrying seeds, small sticks, small plants and, of course, also cuttings .
