Falesco Vitiano Rosso 2007 (Cabernet, Merlot, Sangiovese)
Umbria- Other, Umbria- Other Italy
| WS | 88 | WA | 89 | IWC | 91 |
0 of 360 units left
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91 Points! Under $9 per Bottle!
Riccardo Cotarella is a superstar in Italian wine. A look behind the scenes of many of Italy's top labels will reveal a touch by Cotarella. Despite his "traveling winemaker" persona, there is one estate that he calls home; The 600+ acre estate Falesco located in Umbria, just east of Tuscany. Many of Falesco's wines are counted as Italy's best, but it's the value of Vitiano that is the real blockbuster.
Year in/ year out this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese is an blockbuster. It's almost impossible to find a better value in Italy! What sets it apart? Somehow Cotarella is able to merge modern techniques and french varietals and pull off a wine that is at once modern, pure and still at heart Italian. This is not an easy task!
Full bodied and fruit driven, the wine is built to please. Loaded with fruit and layers of spice, herb and earth this one drinks more like a $30 Chianti than a $12 value!
91 Points- International Wine Cellar: “Pretty aromas of cassis, black plum and earth, with a pronounced vanilla presence. Rich and densely packed, with distinctly ripe flavors of black fruits, raisin and chocolate...Finishes creamy and long..."
89 Points- The Wine Advocate: "The 2007 Vitiano (Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) is a soft-textured, caressing red that blossoms on the palate with layers of perfumed red fruit and sweet French oak. This is an especially seamless and beautiful Vitiano that is particularly rewarding for its textural richness. Vitiano is typically bottled in several lots, all of which undergo malolactic fermentation in French oak. This is the first lot (0922) to be bottled. According to proprietor Riccardo Cotarella, the bottle variation that occasionally shows up in Vitiano is most likely attributable to the different amounts of time the various lots spend in bottle prior to arriving on the market. Clearly lots that have more time in bottle have the potential to show greater harmony than lots that have less time in bottle. That said, slight bottle variation issues here are a minor quibble for a wine that delivers so much value. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2012.
Riccardo Cotarella’s numerous consulting engagements take him all over the world, but it is Falesco, his estate in the rolling hills of Umbria, that he calls home. Falesco is a family affair, with Cotarella’s brother Renzo, and daughter Dominga involved in running the winery. The sprawling property covers 670 acres, 370 of which are under vine. Quality is incredibly consistent when one considers that nearly 3 million bottles emerge from these cellars each year. Never one to rest on his laurels, Cotarella has several new projects in the works. One of the most intriguing of these is a Sagrantino he is making from three hectares of rented vineyards in Bevagna. The first vintage, 2006, will be released later this year."
