Azienda Agricola Montioni

​About eleven years or so ago Doc Ed began taking my wife and I to the wineries in Temecula and San Diego County.  Some were good, some were not, but one thing that was constant was that if you read about them on any of the “review” websites they were all “terrific.”  Basically, we were flying blind.  So, after battling this for nearly four years I started this website, writing reviews of the better wineries and ignoring the less-than-good places, i.e., providing a reference site where you, my readers, can find information to help you select wineries to visit.
Since then, I have visited wineries in other parts of California, Arizona, France, and Italy, and Doc Ed has covered wineries in Oregon.  In all cases, I’ve found that one could not trust reviews of wineries, and often the recommendations of friends were just as unreliable.  So it was with a bit of trepidation when I decided that our group include a visit to wineries in and around the small mountain town of Montefalco in the Italian province of Umbria.
Why Montefalco?  Well, Montefalco wineries make wines from the relatively rare grape Sagrantino.  Sagrantino has been found to have some of the highest levels of antioxidants, i.e., tannins, of any grape, up there with Tannat.  Having had a few samples of wines made from this grape, I thought it worth the trip, especially since Montefalco is only a two-hour drive from Montalcino.  No one could guide me as to which wineries to visit, so I just picked two.  The first of these was Azienda Agricola Montioni, located in the town of Montefalco.

​We were greeted on entering the winery by the owner, Paolo Montioni.  Turns out Montioni also makes olive oil.  They had just picked the olives and were processing them when we arrived, so Paolo took us on a tour of their olive oil production facility.  (More on olive oil later in the blog, after the review of their wines).
Next stop was the tasting room, and Paolo led the tasting as well, which, at 10 euro per person, was an extraordinary bargain.  First wine up was a white, Umbria Grechetto, made from the Grechetto grape.  This grape is also pretty rare, though not as rare as Sagrantino.  In addition to the wine, we were given toasted Italian bread with their “delicate” olive oil.  Great wine, great oil!  My wife and I are not big white wine fans, but we fell in love with Montioni’s Grechetto and had two bottles shipped home.  We should have also bought a case of the olive oil, but only purchased one bottle….

​Next came the red wines, starting with Montefalco Rosso, followed by Montefalco Sagrantino, and then Montefalco Sagrantino Ma Gia.  To go with the stronger red wines, we were given toast with their stronger olive oil, again a perfect pairing.  So how were the wines, you ask?  Montefalco Rosso is a blend consisting mostly of Sangiovese (65%) and Merlot (20%).  It is a good wine, but greatly overshadowed by their Sagrantino wines.  These are made entirely from Sagrantino grapes per the Sagrantino DOCG.  Montefalco Sagrantino is made from grapes grown in several Montioni vineyards surrounding the town of Montefalco (see map), while Ma Gia comes from what they feel is their best vineyard.  They got that right – the Ma Gia is superb!  Best Sagrantino I’ve ever tasted!  I should add, however, that their other Sagrantino is the second best Sagrantino I’ve ever tasted….  We bought seven bottles of Ma Gia.
But Paolo was not finished.  You see, up until the 1950’s Sagrantino grapes were used to make a sweet wine, not a dry wine.  The grapes were picked ripe then dried to increase the ratio of sugar to water, resulting in the alcohol level going high enough to kill the yeast before all the sugar was converted to alcohol.  This process, called ‘passito,’ produces a very nice dessert wine.  So, we tasted Montioni’s Montefalco Sagrantino Passito.  Shipped three bottles back to the States.

​All told, our group purchased six cases of wine and olive oil – more than we purchased in all the other wineries we visited on our trip combined!  I had hit the jackpot!  Best of all, some of their wines can be purchased from Total Wines…

Montioni, as mentioned above, also produces olive oil.  We had the opportunity to tour their facility while the olive oil was being made, and below are some pictures.  The olive oil produced is extra virgin, i.e., minimal processing.  They grow two olive varieties – Moraiolo and Frantoio.  The Moraiolo produces a spicy oil, which they sell as their “Intense” product.  Adding Frantoio yields a milder version, their “Delicate” oil.  Both are just outstanding!  Unfortunately, we only purchased one bottle....