Savaterre 2018 "Maurizio' Sagrantino
Hand-picked fruit, 20% whole bunches, natural open ferment. Matured 18 months in Burgundian oak, unfiltered. Named to honour the late Maurizio Ugge of Aquilla, Italian food and wine importer, who introduced the winemaker (Keppell Smith) to Italian wines. The high priest of tannin, the sagrantino grape is transformed by Keppell into a plush, focused, savoury, full bodied, fine (and firm) tannic young wine, worthy of extended time in the cellar. A striking herbal thread blends in with black fruits, plum, bramble, bracken, earth and truffle which, in itself, is a complex grouping and so very different. You are not in comfortable ol' shiraz territory anymore; it's a pretty exciting place to be.
Rated : 95 Points
Jeni Port - Halliday
Inky, dark fruited red of savouriness and depth. Dark cherry, liquourice, saline mineral and graphite mineral characters, a bit of meat drippings and dried leaf character, undergrowth and sweet earth too. Slow moving but seriously good to sip on, a wine of grunt and groan with stuffing and depth. It's heady in perfume, complex in flavour, but has this silk-draped-on-velvet-pillow feel too.
A great wine, original and very good.
Rated : 94 Points
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front
Sagrantino is a rare, central-Italian originated red found mostly in Umbria and now at Savaterre. It’s recently been noted to contain some of the highest polyphenol (antioxidants) levels of of any red wine. It is a wine that rewards ageing.
"Although Chardonnay, pinot Noir and shiraz are the most fashionable, Sagrantino could well be the most exciting new driving force at Savaterre....Impeccable wine - watch this space!!!"
Rocco Esposito - Project 49, Beechworth & Collingwood