Harvest Date: Hand harvested between mid September and mid October
Aging: Aged for 37 months, of which 16 -18 are in large oak casks, and 4-6 in the bottle.
Tasting Notes: This Passito wine, made with the appassimento method (dried out grapes), has an intense ruby red color with violet reflections. Extremely intense aromas with notes of jammy red fruit, hints of cherries in alcohol, sweet spices and licorice. Sweet at first, smooth and enveloping with powerful refined tannins on the finish.
Vineyard Notes: Vineyard location: Bevagna (PG). Soil type: clay. Altitude: 265 meters above sea level. Average age of vineyards: N/A. Training system: Spurred Cordon. Density: 2.700/5.000 plants per hectare. Yield: 5,000 kg per hectare.
Production Notes: Limited production, 2,500 bottles produced. Fermented in stainless steel vats using only the natural yeasts present on the grapes. Aged 37 months, of which 16 -18 in large oak casks, and 4-6 in the bottle.
Winemaker Notes: Historically Sagrantino was used primarily for making sweet passito wines, partially drying the grapes to yield a thick, syrupy wine with raisin and blueberry qualities, much like a Recioto della Valpolicella.
Food Pairing: Blue cheeses, dry pastries and dark chocolate based desserts.
Other Notes: Aging potential is 15 to 20 years. Planted since 1975, the Antano family’s vines are planted with Sagrantino (a tannic red grape that is native to Umbria) and Sangiovese on clay soils that are rich in minerals. Located in the town of Montefalco, Milziade Antano is in one of the two DOCG designated wine regions in Umbria, Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG. Stylistically, Antano is “old school” in winemaking terms, a “garage winemaker”, with a lack of intervention in the winery, including no barrique and no high-tech equipment. He maintains his father’s vineyard management techniques, now considered modern, which were once considered radical when Milziade began them years ago, with aggressive green harvesting and low tonnage per acre. These are wines that speak out about the strength and passion of the land and the people who till and harvest its fruits.
