Lungarotti tasting at Tre Vaselle, Torgiano

2 APRIL,  SATURDAY

Tasting of Lungarotti wines at our hotel spa (which belongs to the winery), Tre Vaselle, Torgiano, Umbria

They have 250 hectares at Torgiano.

LUNGAROTTI

Bianco di Torgiano 2010

We’d had the 2009 at lunch. 70% Trebbiano and 30% Grechetto. 4.4 euros HT. Nose is delicious, white flowers, sweet peas …green tea. A slight lack of acidity and the finish was a touch green – just needs a bit of time.

Bianco di Torgiano “The Pine” Doc 2008

This parcel/vineyard has much more clay. 30% is put into barriques of mixed ages. 9.8 euros. Nose is subtle, elegant, a touch of resin and white flowers, but dominated by oak, still. No finish. Wine is too forward.

Rubesco, Rosso di Torgiano Doc 2007

70% Sangiovese, 30% Canaiolo. 5.4 euros. Oak casks of mixed ages used. Sommelier said “it is a wine that is easy to understand”. Hmmm. I found it to be mediocre, with a short, bitter and green finish. Like in Chianti, they are experimenting with Sangiovese clonal selection (Sangiovese Grosso) – warmer terroir here – less acidity – and you can taste this.

Rubesco Riserva “Vigna Monticchio” 2005

Plantings are 300 metres above sea level in clay soils. Harvests by hand – vendanges verts (green pruning) is rigourous (I still think the yields are too high). Sommelier said wine is still too young (yes) and that the wine has another 10 years on it (No, not enough fruit/extracts or acidity). Tannins are green, immature. Finish is dry, hot and short. I think it is missing too many things to eventually balance out and mature well.

San Giorgio Umbria Rosso 2004, Tenuta di Torgiano

40% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a “Super Umbrian”!! Produced in response to the Super Tuscans in Chianti. Meaning, they added Cabernet Sauvignon (or other international varieties) to their indigenous varieties, which is against the Doc and Docg rules – so added it to their IGT wines, for which the same rules did not apply. And these IGT wines gained more in international reputation and price than the supposedly superior Doc and Docg wines.

This is not bad, but like the others, falls apart at the finish…but I will go back to this wine again, and see if it was simply not tasting well today.

Rosso di Montefalco, Montefalco Rosso Doc 2008

75% Sangiovese, 15% Merlot and 10% Sagrantino. 7.3 euros. This was lovely, but I have a problem with the encépagement…Sagrantino is the grape grown and used in Montefalco wines (required in the Docg, flexible in the Doc) They have gone and stuck in Sangiovese and…Merlot (the sweetest red grape – so will soften the notoriously bitter, dark Sagrantino). I should not like this wine because it deforms the typicity of the wine – but I do. This was the best wine of the bunch.

Sagrantino, Montefalco Sagrantino, Docg 2007

100% Sagrantino. 13.4 euros. They got the grape variety right here, but now I know why they added the Sangiovese and the Merlot to the Doc version! Their Sagrantino is not up to scratch…Turns out that they have 8-9 hectares and they are young – planted in 2000. That’s what I am tasting – a lack of concentration and maturity.