Pagliaro Secco Montefalco Sagrantino

Nose has smoked & partially-dried plum, sliced cherries dredged in cocoa powder, faint baking spice, mashed black cherries, old cigar box and dried blackberries.

Palate has grilled plum, savory herbs, over-ripe blackberry, bittersweet chocolate chips, faint fire-roasted tomato and raspberry puree.

Decanted +3H, needs lots more time to uncoil. Medium to heavy tannins with a drying palate texture similar to eating a spoonful of cocoa powder, dry + chocolatey. A wall of tannins, if drinking this before 2026, decant at least 8-12H.

Exotic, oysters and cedar

Good but not a great vintage for this. A little too ripe and not backed up enough by structure.

Slow-ox’d two hours prior and then decanted briefly before serving. Tart, under-ripened plums; fresh herbs; sandal wood; tomatillos; freshly un-canned racquetballs; baking spices; eucalyptus; cardamom. Spellbinding stuff. On the palate, dark fruits are so tightly packed and almost completely ensconced by a wall of tannin. There is so much power behind it though and it’s somehow enjoyable despite tannin. Obviously and almost painfully primary at this juncture in its very young life. The finish is looooooong and there’s a striking sensation of pure baking cocoa right at the death of it. What a wild and utterly captivating wine! The 15% ABV is superbly hidden and almost hard to believe. Considering the complexity and structure, I wouldn’t be surprised if well stored examples of these could drink through 2040 and beyond. The Bea family continue to endear themselves to me with wines like this. This was markedly better than the 2008 Pagliaro we drank last week.

Absolute sick bottle. Loads of red cherry and raspberry, pure and bright. Huge structure with massive tannin. Smooth texture. Needs couple hours to breathe and fully blossom.

Sanguine, rustic, gamey, and loaded with spice box. Tannins integrating with a decade of age.

After opening another bottle a few years too early and having it be way too tannic for my taste, this was nicely balanced. Still powerful but very nice. Dried red fruit. Really liked it.

Rich dark purple, inky, the smell is unique to anything I’ve smelt, but in amazing way, slightly sweet, almost hints of root beer, with licorice hints, rubbing alc (slight), nut brown ale, slight toffee, the wine has a full body with a ton of tannin, big wine! Dry too. The smell is much sweeter than the taste, I think the tannic is overwhelming but could be so in a good way, there nearly the sourness of charcoal and piney, the fruit is sort of crushed by the nose and tannin festival going on but not really a thing and more of an essence. Liked the Sangiovese better, this is tongue numbing! Literally! Update - totally softens the next day as expected with more jam probably 9.2.

Natty and powerful. Ethereal aromatics with structure on steroids. For the ages.

One of Bea’s “lighter” Sagrantino. Drinkable now, but so much more to offer over the next decade-plus. Tannins are smooth but herculean. Red-fruited of course but with some smokiness and spiciness that begs for hearty fare. Mussels and shrimp in spicy squid ink pasta did the trick...