A PORTRAIT OF THE WINERY

Villa Mongalli is one of the most impressive wine enterprises to have appeared on the Umbrian scene over the last years, and the credit is all due to the intuition and self-sacrifice of the Menghini family who knew how to get the most out of their splendid vineyards, which lie between Bevagna and Montefalco surrounded by a hundred year old park which also hosts the ancient residence that gave the estate its name. Wine grapes and olives have been growing here since time immemorial, as evidenced by some of the truly ancient sagrantino vines that were still on the property when Menghini bought it in 1999. The wine from these grapes used to be made in tiny cantinas set up by local farmers on their properties, but now a new building next to the villa has taken over from them. The new winery is modern and functional yet fits in beautifully with the surrounding landscape and the ancient architecture that characterizes the area. A wise mix of tradition and modernity governs the winemaking methods used here and the new technology is really just used to accompany the fruit as it naturally becomes wine. The fermentation process is natural and no extra yeasts are added to turn the grape juice into wine, which is aged in both barriques and larger wooden barrels.

THE VINEYARD AND TERROIR

The wonderful characteristics of the earth here, which is clayey with a consistent amount of fine gravel, light, warm and permeable, the perfect south-south-west exposure and it’s altitude of 360-400 meters makes this vineyard ideal for making quality wine. The Della Cima cru and the parcel of land in Colcimino near San Marco give their grapes very special characteristics.

THE GRAPE VARIETIES GROWN

Sagrantino is the prevailing grape here and occupies half of the estate’s vineyards, followed by sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, gamay and then there is a hectare of that valiant traditional grape, trebbiano spoletino.

WINES

The Montefalco Sagrantino Della cima, made with grapes carefully selected from a single vineyard, is a grand wine of great complexity with heady aromas that range from blackberries to spices. Their Sagrantino colcimino is also magnificent, a relaxed and elegant wine, while their Sagrantino Pozzo Del curato is no less worthy, with a clear and attractive fragrance. Abundant praise must also be given to their Montefalco rosso le grazie.