2010 Falesco Umbria Merlot

Falesco is a 900-acre estate in Montefiascone, Lazio. The estate was founded in 1979 when the brothers Renzo and Riccardo Cotarella, both trained as winemakers, began buying vineyards and making wine in a region that had largely been abandoned by serious Italian winemakers. Since then the family has added estates in Umbria and other parts of Lazio, and the brothers and their adult children run a modern enterprise that makes a large portfolio of wines. Falesco makes 2.6 million bottles of wine a year, including reds, whites and roses. Their premium bottlings are Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignons.

Umbria is a relatively small region tucked up against the eastern edge of Tuscany and the Marche’s western border. A rich agricultural area famous for olive oil, grains and black truffles, commercial winemaking was not a priority until the mid-20th century, when Giorgio Lungarotti slowly turned his family’s long-held estate from a general agricultural enterprise to commercial vineyards and a winery. In 1968 the area was awarded its first DOC appellation. Today there are two DOCGs and ten DOCs in Umbria, and 30% of the 41,000 vineyard acres are in classified appellations. Umbria is now the sixth largest of Italy’s 20 regions in the quantity t of DOC wines produced. Until the last decade or two, the white wines of Orvieto were Umbria’s best-known wines. Orvieto blends often include the regional grapes Grechetto and Verdello, and may also include Trebbiano and Drupeggio. With the rise of the Lungarotti winery and several others, however, distinctive red wines have also become part of the Umbrian wine portfolio. Sangiovese is the dominant red grape, and it is used for blending. But the unique red grape of Umbria is Sagrantino, a deep, dark grape that makes tannic, spicy wines. Sagrantino accounts for only about 250 acres of Umbria’s vineyards, and it grows nowhere else in Italy, one reason why Sagrantino has become something of a cult wine. Gamay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Canaiolo are also grown.

The Merlot grape is such a deep blue that it is named for the blackbird. It’s an early ripening grape and one of the primary varietals used In Bordeaux. Merlot is also grown in the "International style," which is harvested later to bring out more tannins and body.