Arnaldo Caprai

Flaminia Maremmana. The name tells of paths that are older than Rome itself. Along an ancient branch of the Via Flaminia, the consular road that connected Rome with the Adriatic Sea from 220 BC, shepherds travelled with their flocks century after century: From the green Umbrian hills down to the Maremma, to the Transumanza, the seasonal transhumance that characterised the life of this landscape until the 20th century. Here, where sheep and shepherds once rested, where history is inscribed in the earth, the vines for this special Montefalco Rosso grow today. First vinified in 2007, it carries the soul of this historic terroir. The cuvée of seventy per cent Sangiovese, fifteen per cent Sagrantino and fifteen per cent Canaiolo thrives on south-east-facing limestone-clay soils.

Arnaldo Caprais Montefalco Rosso Riserva shows how much depth and complexity can be achieved with this combination of local varieties. The wine is intense and particularly concentrated thanks to ripe fruit and careful oak ageing. You can feel the power of the Sagrantino tannins, but this power is well measured and under control. With its dark and crunchy fruit, this is a wine that initially makes you bite your teeth out, but which becomes increasingly elegant as it matures in the bottle. SUPERIORE.DE

Black-red and almost impenetrable in the glass. Blackberry, black cherry, some rum pot and tobacco on the nose. Generous and ripe on the palate, flanked by taut tannins, which are pleasantly flanked by the fleshy core. Once again, Marco Caprai has succeeded in taming the Sagrantino grape and raising it to the highest heights - a grape variety that demands a great deal of sensitivity every year, even from the "bedrock" from Montefalco. SUPERIORE.DE

Caprais Montefalco Rosso is an attractive red made predominantly from Sangiovese with small amounts of Sagrantino and Merlot. The aroma is unmistakably of black cherries and violets. Juicy and playful on the palate, with balanced acidity that enlivens the crisp red berry fruit, which leaves a slight mineral touch towards the end. Plenty of power and freshness, good structure, elegant on the finish. SUPERIORE.DE

The "25 Anni" from Caprai has been THE ambassador for Umbria's top wines for many years. It captivates with a beguiling bouquet that combines black fruits with citrus fruits, exotic spices, a hint of oregano, menthol and a hint of cocoa. The texture is more like pure silk, delicately lapping the palate, leaving a satisfying mix of intense dark fruits, minerals and fine-grained tannin. There is so much depth and concentration to work with that even when it finishes youthfully structured and dry, it lingers for well over a minute with notes of redcurrant, sage and dark chocolate. This exceptional Sagrantino is undisputedly not only Caprai's top wine, but also one of Italy's most characterful wines, which, with a little more ageing, will give incredible pleasure and should therefore definitely be aerated for 3-4 hours when young. SUPERIORE.DE

1993 – marco Caprai stood in his vineyards and looked back on a quarter of a century that his father Arnaldo had begun in 1971 with a dream: to create a world wine from a forgotten Umbrian vine. Ten years of research lay behind him: collaboration with the University of Milan, clone selection, the risk of vinifying the Sagrantino dry instead of sweet. For the 25th anniversary, he wanted to make a statement: the ultimate Sagrantino, the essence of everything he and his father had learnt. The 25 Anni was born – and the wine world held its breath. What followed is legend. In 2000, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones chose this wine for their wedding. Luigi Veronelli proclaimed Sagrantino as one of Italy's greatest red wines. Montefalco was transformed from a sleepy village into a Mecca for wine tourism. And the 25 Anni remained – year after year, vintage after vintage – the flagship of this Umbrian revolution. It comes from the best vineyards in the Val di Maggio, a meticulous clone selection of pure Sagrantino from vines rooted with six to eight thousand plants per hectare.

The "25 Anni" from Caprai has been THE ambassador for Umbria's top wines for many years. It captivates with a beguiling bouquet that combines black fruits with citrus fruits, exotic spices, a hint of oregano, menthol and a hint of cocoa. The texture is more like pure silk, delicately lapping the palate, leaving a satisfying mix of intense dark fruits, minerals and fine-grained tannin. There is so much depth and concentration to work with that even when it finishes youthfully structured and dry, it lingers for well over a minute with notes of redcurrant, sage and dark chocolate. This exceptional Sagrantino is undisputedly not only Caprai's top wine, but also one of Italy's most characterful wines, which, with a little more ageing, is an incredible pleasure and should therefore definitely be aerated for 3-4 hours when young. SUPERIORE.DE

The "25 Anni" from Caprai has been THE ambassador for Umbria's top wines for many years. It captivates with a beguiling bouquet that combines black fruits with citrus fruits, exotic spices, a hint of oregano, menthol and a hint of cocoa. The texture is more like pure silk, delicately lapping the palate, leaving a satisfying mix of intense dark fruits, minerals and fine-grained tannin. There is so much depth and concentration to work with that even when it finishes youthfully structured and dry, it lingers for well over a minute with notes of redcurrant, sage and dark chocolate. This exceptional Sagrantino is undisputedly not only Caprai's top wine, but also one of Italy's most characterful wines, which, with a little more ageing, is an incredible pleasure and should therefore definitely be aerated for 3-4 hours when young. SUPERIORE.DE

1993 – marco Caprai stood in his vineyards and looked back on a quarter of a century that his father Arnaldo had begun in 1971 with a dream: to create a world wine from a forgotten Umbrian vine. Ten years of research lay behind him: collaboration with the University of Milan, clone selection, the risk of vinifying the Sagrantino dry instead of sweet. For the 25th anniversary, he wanted to make a statement: the ultimate Sagrantino, the essence of everything he and his father had learnt. The 25 Anni was born – and the wine world held its breath. What followed is legend. In 2000, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones chose this wine for their wedding. Luigi Veronelli proclaimed Sagrantino as one of Italy's greatest red wines. Montefalco was transformed from a sleepy village into a Mecca for wine tourism. And the 25 Anni remained – year after year, vintage after vintage – the flagship of this Umbrian revolution. It comes from the best vineyards in the Val di Maggio, a meticulous clone selection of pure Sagrantino from vines rooted with six to eight thousand plants per hectare.

The "25 Anni" from Caprai has been THE ambassador for Umbria's top wines for many years. It captivates with a beguiling bouquet that combines black fruits with citrus fruits, exotic spices, a hint of oregano, menthol and a hint of cocoa. The texture is more like pure silk, delicately lapping the palate, leaving a satisfying mix of intense dark fruits, minerals and fine-grained tannin. There is so much depth and concentration to work with that even when it finishes youthfully structured and dry, it lingers for well over a minute with notes of redcurrant, sage and dark chocolate. This exceptional Sagrantino is undisputedly not only Caprai's top wine, but also one of Italy's most characterful wines, which, with a little more ageing, is an incredible pleasure and should therefore definitely be aerated for 3-4 hours when young. SUPERIORE.DE