Tre Bicchieri 2019 Previews. Umbria's best wines

A record number of Tre Bicchieri for this small region is a strong signal that something’s afoot. It’s important to underline, however, everything that goes on outside the scores. There are more than a few wine producing territories on the rise in Umbria, with the most well-known affirming their importance and some lesser-known showing why they are so well-suited (thanks to a number of noteworthy offerings). Montefalco remains the region’s star appellation. It’s an area that we can’t only reduce to Sagrantino, considering that Montefalco Rosso is, by now, a great mealtime wine, highly drinkable and supple, not to mention Montefalco Bianco (Grechetto, Trebbiano Toscano and other authorized grapes) and Montefalco Grechetto. This last cultivar is also having excellent results elsewhere, especially in Colli Martani and Todi, where the recently discovered Trebbiano Spoletino is also making its presence felt. Umbria’s whites are, by now, a consolidated fact, especially if we consider Orvieto, which is taking huge steps towards reaffirming its status as one of the region’s (and peninsula’s) most important white winemaking districts. But returning to the reds, it’s impossible to not cite Trasimeno’s success, especially those offerings made with Gamay Perugino (a variety that belongs to the Grenache family) and Narni’s Ciliegiolo. Thanks to the painstaking work of a group of vine growers, recent years have given rise to wines of extreme finesse, freshness and typicity in their various varietal expressions. We conclude with an obligatory mention for Torgiano and its Sangioveses, which once again spawned an outstanding Vigna Monticchio, their 2013, the wine’s 14th Tre Bicchieri. In Montefalco four wineries took home a gold: Bellafonte, Caprai, Pardi (with their Sagrantino) and Tenuta Castelbuono (with their Rosso). Todi saw two wines in the limelight, and both Grechettos. One is Roccafiore’s FiorFiore, the other is Rovi di Peppucci, the winery’s first Tre Bicchieri. In Orvieto, three wines already known to our readers obtained our highest score: Decugnano dei Bari’s 2017 Bianco, Castello della Sala’s classically-styled 2016 Cervaro della Sala and Barberani’s delicious 2015 Calcaia, testifying to how well the territory’s botrytis sweet wines can do.

Adarmando ’16 - Giampaolo Tabarrini

Cervaro della Sala ’16 - Castello della Sala

Fiorfiore ’16 - Roccafiore

Montefalco Rosso Ziggurat ’16 - Tenute Lunelli

Montefalco Sagrantino 25 Anni ’14 - Arnaldo Caprai

Montefalco Sagrantino Collenottolo ’14 - Tenuta Bellafonte

Montefalco Sagrantino Sacrantino ’14 - F.lli Pardi

Orvieto Cl. Sup. Il Bianco ’17 - Decugnano dei Barbi

Orvieto Muffa Nobile Calcaia ’15 - Barberani

Spoleto Trebbiano Spoletino Anteprima Tonda ’16 - Antonelli - San Marco

Todi Grechetto I Rovi ’16 - Cantina Peppucci

Torgiano Rosso Rubesco V. Monticchio Ris. ’13 - Lungarotti