Winemaker Notes
Bright golden in color with a nose of ripe yellow fruit, almond, and citrus. Fresh notes of chestnut, honey, and herbs on the palate lead to a long and tangy finish.
Blend: 50% Procanico, 30% Verdello, 20% Malvasia
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2018 Vino Bianco Musco captivates with an exotic bouquet that blends sweet peach and melon with tropical florals, hazelnut and nuances of raw honey. It’s soft and enveloping, coating the palate in a primary concentration of rich fruit and savory spice, yet remaining lifted and perfumed throughout. This finishes lightly structured and persistent with a twang of tart citrus. It’s just begging for some time in the cellar to fully blossom. There’s so much going on here already that you could easily enjoy the 2018 Musco today, but I’m very interested to see what this will show with another year or two of maturity. It’s a throwback-style Orvieto blend of Procanico, Verdello and Malvasia, spontaneously fermented in open casks for four days and then refined for another year in chestnut barrels.
Rating: 91+
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
Centered upon the lush Apennine Range in the center if the Italian peninsula, Umbria is one of the few completely landlocked regions in Italy. It’s star red grape variety, Sagrantino, finds its mecca around the striking, hilltop village of Montefalco. The resulting wine, Sagrantino di Montefalco, is an age-worthy, brawny, brambly red, bursting with jammy, blackberry fruit and earthy, pine forest aromas. By law this classified wine has to be aged over three years before it can be released from the winery and Sagrantino often needs a good 5-10 more years in bottle before it reaches its peak. Incidentally these wines often fall under the radar in the scene of high-end, age-begging, Italian reds, giving them an almost cult-classic appeal. They are undoubtedly worth the wait!
Rosso di Montefalco, on the other had, is composed mainly of Sangiovese and is a more fruit-driven, quaffable wine to enjoy while waiting for the Sagrantinos to mellow out.
Among its green mountains, perched upon a high cliff in the province of Terni, sits the town of Orvieto. Orvieto, the wine, is a blend of at least 60% Trebbiano in combination with Grechetto, with the possible addition of other local white varieties. Orvieto is the center of Umbria’s white wine production—and anchor of the region’s entire wine scene—producing over two thirds of Umbria’s wine. A great Orvieto will have clean aromas and flavors of green apple, melon and citrus, and have a crisp, mineral-dominant finish.