Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2016 Bianco Arboreus is finessed and floral with notes of crystallized ginger, dried flowers and a dusting of sweet spice. It’s silky and round on the palate, coating all that it touches with vivid apricot and hints of young kiwi; a staining of minerality mounts toward the close. This finishes long, lightly structured and with cheek-puckering tension, as a sweet and sour interplay of citrus plays out. The 2016 is simply stunning and amazingly balanced; what’s more, is that it should mature beautifully in collectors’ cellars. Wow. These grapes are farmed using an ancient training method where the vines are “married” with trees and grow up along their trunks. Giampiero Bea farms fifteen small parcels of these old vines throughout the region to create the Arboreus.
There are hundreds of white grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles.
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.