Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG Limited Edition
Cantina Arnaldo Caprai turns 50 years old (1971-2021). To celebrate this significant milestone, just as we did in 1996 with the legendary 25 Anni 1993 and in 2011 with the 40 Anni 2007, we have produced a precious 50th Anniversary edition.
We have created a Sagrantino dressed in a precious and essential dress: a work of art in pure gold.
The unprecedented label is by the international artist Paolo Canevari, who reinterprets the altarpiece "The Mystic Marriage of Catherine of Alexandria" by Benozzo Gozzoli (1466), isolating its outline. In his eclectic minimalism, the artist captures the significant parallelism between art and wine, succeeding in synthesising the history of Arnaldo Caprai, which has always strived for excellence, looking to the future but with its feet firmly anchored to its roots.The label's pure gold leaf was created with the refined collaboration of Giusto Manetti Battiloro, a gold leaf producer in Florence since 1600.
A work of art, a piece of jewellery or a wine are prestigious manufactures that can converge into a precious artistic coherence.
Paolo Canevari (Rome, 1963)
Paolo Canevari is one of the internationally renowned Italian artists of his generation, known for his use of different materials and media, such as animation, drawing, video, sculpture and installations. The artist proposes easily recognisable symbols or clichés to evoke concepts such as religion, urban myths of happiness or the great principles behind creation and destruction.
WINEMAKING
Such an important milestone could only be celebrated with a special selection of Montefalco Sagrantino. We meticulously harvested the best Sagrantino grapes from the Monte della Torre vineyard and, thanks to the guidance of Michel Rolland, we introduced the "vinification intégral" process at the winery, which allowed the Sagrantino to dissolve its extraordinary polyphenolic richness in the must without any mechanical forcing, thus overcoming the problems of vinification by gravity. This innovative "artisanal" practice of vinification of whole grapes in barriques, thanks to a very soft extraction and the almost permanent immersion of the marc during alcoholic fermentation, allows for the production of rounder wines, with greater volume, greater fatness, greater complexity, accentuated aromatic precision, a better integrated boisé with silky finishes.
Cold pre-fermentation maceration at 4/8 °C for about 15 days extracted colour and aroma.
After the one-week alcoholic fermentation, we started the post-fermentation maceration for three weeks under heat.
At the end of the second period of maceration, a third long period of infusion of the marc began. As in the two previous periods, the marc was subjected three times a day to a sort of manual remuage, i.e. rotation of the barrique on the horizontal axis to keep the marc immersed in the wine. Only after this long period, and therefore after about 70 days from harvesting, were the barriques manually reopened and racked by gravity without the use of mechanical pumps.
The wine was then aged for two years in new barriques and two years in the bottle before being ready for tasting.
VINTAGE TREND
The 2016 vintage was hot in general, although the summer was quite mild. A good alternation of sun and rain allowed a slow but ideal ripening of the grapes. Medium-late harvest and exceptionally well-balanced wines. The decisive months of September and October ensured optimal ripening of the grapes thanks to normal temperatures and short rainstorms. This extraordinary development led to 2016 being identified as the best vintage of this short century!
TASTING NOTES
The tasting of the 50 Anni Montefalco Sagrantino Special Edition 2016 reveals how this exclusive selection is paradigmatic with respect to the technique of whole wine vinification and a guideline for future production. The bouquet is rich with hints of intense dark fruits, dark chocolate and exotic spices. The taste is surprised by an unprecedented and intriguing silky and persistent texture that opens up to a sumptuous depth of tannins. The intense and multifaceted character invites one to savour this wine with curiosity and surprise. The multifaceted nature of the Sagrantino variety finds in this selection a sublime synthesis like an unforgettable and passionate monologue.
Ageing potential 25-30 years
