Tenute Lunelli – Carapace 2010 – Montefalco Sagrantino

Medium deep ruby red core, with a certain evolution on the rim. Very spicy nose, combining red and darker fruit; but there’s a lot of almost exotic spiciness there, peppery with some notes of mint, sage, aromatic herbs I would say, with a quite sweet fruit character. It feels rather ripe, from a warm climate. The palate confirms the nose, it’s quite bold, a rather opulent style with nicely layered sweet fruit, with notes of red and dark cherries, sweet berries. I think that spiciness is nicely integrated, those notes of fresh mint, fresh sage give a lift. It’s a very tannic style though, there’s a lot of extract in this one. I think that for this style it’s well-managed, the tannins are not rough or dry but they’re very present. This is truly a style for long aging, but I think this one is nicely polished, with fine wood, enjoyable juicy fruit, and very good length; due to those tannins of course it’s very persistent on the palate, yet without dryness. I really like this one. I think this is a style that really requires aging, or it requires an enormous grilled entrecôte, that I would like to eat right now.

Tasted by the Best Sommelier of the World, Andreas Larsson.