The area of “San Marco de Corticellis” was an ancient Langobard agricultural court, located in an Umbria area already known for its microclimate, particularly suitable for wine and oil production. Those same lands, between the 13th and the 19th century belonged to the properties administered by the Bishop of Spoleto until, in 1881, the lawyer Francesco Antonelli (also from Spoleto) took over the property. Among the family members who contributed most to enhance its potential, it is worth remembering Giacomo and Antonio, who expanded it, directing it to wine production. Today those lands are led, starting from 1986, by Filippo Antonelli, an agronomist from Perugia born in 1960 who, currently, also plays the role of president of the Montefalco Wines Preservation Cartel.
The estate covers 190 hectares, in the middle of the DOCG area of Montefalco, 50 of which, at an average altitude of 350 meters, with a south and west exposure, intended for certified organic viticulture. In addition to further 10 hectares, intended for olive cultivation, there are another 130 of woods, which surround vineyards and olive trees, creating an ideal microclimate for their cultivation. The cellar was created below the main house, with a low environmental and energy impact, thanks to its organization that allows to go through the various winemaking stages with the simple gravity action.
The Antonelli family had a certain predisposition to technical innovation from the beginning (just think that already in 1899 the patriarch Francesco designed vineyards at a planting density of 5000 vines per hectare) and the wine “Contrario”, born in 2008, it is the last example of this vocation. As the name says, it is a wine made on the contrary, whose grapes are harvested in advance, instead of the advanced maturation typical of Sagrantino di Montefalco, fermented at a lower temperature and aged for a shorter period in steel, instead of the traditional wood required from the appellation rules. All these operations allow to produce a Sagrantino that renounces the DOCG appellation to gain freshness, fruit and immediate taste.
This 2015 vintage has an intense ruby color with a purple ring, and an aromatic spectrum that opens with wild strawberry, doughnut, black cherry grenadine and red orange, followed by tea rose, green branch of cinchona and tamarind, with final touches of blood and sweet aromatic pipe tobacco. The mouthfeel has a crystalline freshness combined with a glyceric component that gives a pleasant illusion of sweetness, immediately contradicted by the tactile/retro-olfactory return of blood-iron character that alternates with the more greedily fruity, in a pas de deux that continues even after swallowing, in a good length persistence.
Rating: 89/100
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