TN: 1999 Paolo Bea Montefalco Sagrantino Secco

WINE TALK
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  • 1999 Paolo Bea Montefalco Sagrantino Secco - Italy, Umbria, Montefalco, Montefalco Sagrantino (8/18/2023)
    Was inspired to open this due to a recent Sagrantino post on WB. Recent CT TNs suspect EOL, holdings (somewhat) suggest this may not be the case. Let's take the Pepsi Challenge... Opened and let bottle decant for about an hour+ to start. It starts scary, nose of heavy figs and overdone. Gave it more time, why not?! That blows off actually. Do not be lazy like me and use the bottle; decant in a wide base vessel as the glass I poured in and left alone evolved amazingly to real fruit emerging with tart (VA on after-thought) black cherries, leather, earthiness, hints of black tea. Moving on... the front is so different than what I expected. Not tart at all as this maybe the most well integrated end-to-end sip I've had in a decade, maybe more. Mature dark cherry and plums dancing with dusty/musty earthy forest floor, kissed w/vanilla and cocoa dust, and an all spice/nutmeg kinda splash. Middle gives way to a kick of acidity and some tart, faded; it tried. The back is a whole thing. All the front coming back to the party on a velvet carpet of tannins and earthiness fading to black tea and blackberry, late to the party. I've not seen something like this ever and it was a complete surprise and fortunate at that. Be patient with this yet also don't be shocked at how fast it can shift lanes on fruit, earth, tertiary nuances. The middle acidity throttles a bit up and down over time based on what's happening around it. Some of this is the sediment that is creeping in more on the later glasses, some not. All in all, wow, I don't put numbers on wine but this would be material. Was a "gift" in a way. I gave a friend a well kept '43 German Riesling for his Dad's BD; he insisted I take this. Good karma comes around. Right now, I just hope he and his Dad felt as much joy as I just did. Edit: Mine is No. 1322

    Soundtrack sipping: Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush


Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for the great note. I love these wines especially with some age. Also, thanks for sharing how the wine evolved after opening. A rare treat.

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I have had mixed results with this wine. Couple that with the price increases from when I started buying and I am no longer purchasing. But the good bottles are really remarkable.

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I’ve not had a bad bottle but have read that none of these are a slam dunk on the long run. I’ve just been fortunate I guess. I think 15 years is the safer sweet spot honestly. This one ran a wide gamut over four hours landing more prune on the last (very sediment-laden) sips. It still stuck the landing IMO.

The price, I have not looked at recently. I just developed bottle ADD. I guess everything heads north eventually though I’ll have to take a peak out of curiosity, thanks for the heads up.

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Love this wine!

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I really appreciate your tasting notes here! I’m a huge fan of Sagrantino, going to spend some time in the motherland this fall tasting it, in fact. Your notes are beautifully complete and are making me eager to try this in particular.

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I’m sitting on a couple of bottles of the 2007 Paolo Bea Cerrete (actually that’s not quite true as I’m sitting on a chair) which I don’t think comes into my country anymore though the Pagliari still does. Must be getting on time to bang one open.

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