Antonelli Montefalco Rosso '23

Antonelli Montefalco Rosso '23Montefalco sits in the green heart of Umbria, a region that still feels like one of Italys best kept wine secrets. Part of that is geography: Umbria is landlocked, with fewer internationally famous marquee appellations than neighboring Tuscany, and a lot of its best bottles are still enjoyed close to home in hill towns and family trattorie. Its also simply smaller in scale, with roughly 1213,000 hectares of vineyards compared to about 5861,000

Montefalco sits in the green heart of Umbria, a region that still feels like one of Italy’s best-kept wine secrets. Part of that is geography: Umbria is landlocked, with fewer internationally famous “marquee” appellations than neighboring Tuscany, and a lot of its best bottles are still enjoyed close to home in hill towns and family trattorie. It’s also simply smaller in scale, with roughly 12–13,000 hectares of vineyards compared to about 58–61,000 hectares in Tuscany, so it naturally gets less global attention. The upside is that Umbria remains a sweet spot for discovery and value, especially in Montefalco where tradition and structure run deep.

The local twist is that Montefalco’s everyday reds often borrow a little extra backbone from Sagrantino, the region’s powerhouse grape. That means even “Rosso” bottlings tend to feel more serious than the category name might suggest.

Antonelli San Marco is one of the historic reference estates of Montefalco. The family has owned their single, contiguous estate since 1883, and it’s a true agricultural property of vineyards, olive groves, and woodland rather than just a winery and a few plots. They completed their conversion to certified organic farming in 2009, and their approach is all about clarity, balance, and letting the region’s grapes speak.

The 2022 Antonelli Montefalco Rosso follows the classic Antonelli formula: 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, and 15% Montepulciano. The varieties are vinified separately, fermented on the skins with about two to three weeks of maceration, then blended and aged in large oak casks for at least nine months, followed by a settling period in cement before bottling.

Beautiful aromas of dark cherries, blackberries and sage, the wine is medium weight, with soft tannins and a bright finish. It’s the kind of red that works beautifully at the table with ragù, porchetta, or mushroom-driven pastas, and it has enough structure to handle richer dishes without feeling heavy.