2010 Paolo Bea Sagrantino Di Montefalco Pagliaro

I was absolutely impressed by this wine from Giampiero Bea. In fact, I bought a second bottle to share with my colleagues at the Wine Advocate year-end editorial meeting. The 2010 Sagrantino di Montefalco Pagliaro is gracefully tamed and tranquil. All those biting tannins that you might expect from the structured Sagrantino grape have been delicately subdued and rendered silky and smooth. It's magic. The wine opens to a dark garnet color with luminous ruby-like sparkles. The bouquet delivers fine aromas of dried cherry and exotic spice. This is one of the nicest wines I have tasted from this creative producer in Umbria, and the wine is drinking mostly beautifully starting at this very moment in time.