Every spring, the hilltop town of Montefalco becomes the beating heart of Umbrian wine. The AMontefalco event is the annual preview tasting organised by the Consorzio Tutela Vini Montefalco. It showcases the full range of the region’s wines, from Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG and Montefalco Rosso DOC to Montefalco Bianco DOC and Trebbiano Spoletino via the DOC Spoleto denomination. It is a great opportunity for wine writers, journalists, sommeliers, and other wine professionals to learn more about the Montefalco and Spoleto territories and the wines through winery visits, tastings with sommelier service in the municipal building, and dinners with the producers. I always love attending the Montefalco event for the community and friendship among the producers, the beauty of Umbria, the wines, and hanging out with fellow wine professionals.
On a Monday afternoon at the end of April, I jumped on the regional train with destination Foligno and then Montefalco in Umbria for the yearly AMontefalco event. On the train, I met Nanyoung Baek, my South Korean wine writer friend who lives in Torino. We had a nice train ride, chatting about this and that.
The Montefalco event is not only about Sagrantino now; the Trebbiano Spoletino is claiming more space year by year.
Trebbiano Spoletino is extending its reach in the Montefalco area
Trebbiano Spoletino is a white wine that I liked from the first time I tasted it years ago. It has character, grit, structure, lovely notes of white flowers, white fruit such as pear and peach, herbaceous notes, maquis, good acidity and minerality. It is a wine with great ageing potential, developing notes such as truffle, candied fruit, flint, and hydrocarbon that make it more fascinating year by year.
Read more about the Trebbiano Spoletino grape and DOC Spoleto in my article How Aging Maximises the Unique Characters of Trebbiano Spoletino.
The DOC Spoleto was embraced by the Consorzio Tutela Vini Montefalco in 2019, and since then, it has become the white wine to count on in the area. The producers have recognised the Trebbiano Spoletino’s winning character, which has led to modifications to the DOC Spoleto regulation, which I will explain in more detail below. The DOC Spoleto area, in the southern part of the province of Perugia, has so far been limited to the commune of Montefalco and part of the communal territories of Spoleto, Campello su Clitunno, Castel Ritaldi, Foligno, and Trevi (according to the DOC Spoleto regulation).
DOC Spoleto Expands: New Regulations and a Tripled Production Zone
The consortium has been at work since 2021 to reshape the “look” of the versatile Trebbiamo Spoletino and to enlarge the production area. The new regulation will introduce the Trebbiano Spoletino Riserva (from the 2025 vintage) and eliminate the Trebbiano Spoletino Superiore, which requires a minimum of 85% Trebbiano Spoletino and a maximum of 15% other local white grapes from Umbria.
It will also be allowed to macerate on the skins, resulting in a colour ranging from straw yellow to rich golden yellow.
The most revolutionary news we discussed this year in Montefalco was that the consortium has applied to considerably expand the DOC Spoleto production area to include Bevagna, Gualdo Cattaneo, and Giano dell’Umbria.
The enlargement goes from 50 ha to 150 ha. This is a huge change.
A fellow journalist asked different producers last month if they were sure the expansion would be approved.
The producers generally answered, “Yes, we think so; it should all be fine.”
The journalist wanted a more concise answer and continued to ask how they can be sure.
We had a fun discussion about this during the tasting afterwards.
One thing is for sure: Trebbiano Spoletino wines are on the rise. I understand this because it is such an intriguing white wine.
Tasting Trebbiano Spoletino at the AMontefalco event
Below, I share a couple of Trebbiano Spoletino wines to try, which I enjoyed at the Montefalco event this year. I usually do not write tasting notes, but below you can find my approach to Trebbiano Spoletino tasting notes for the 2024 vintage.
Terre di San Felice, Trebbiano Umbria Bollicine IGT 2024
While Nanyoung and I waited for the rest of the journalist group to arrive, we had a glass of this joyful Trebbiano Spoletino sparkling wine with Carlo Mancini, the owner of Terre di San Felice, and his staff. This Champenoise method of sparkling wine uses a second fermentation in the bottle. It has good freshness, citrusy notes, and hints of grapefruit, apple, and herbs; overall, it is a very pleasurable “bollicina”.
Tenuta Saragano, Montefalco Bianco DOC, 2024, 100% Trebbiano Spoletino
Tenuta di Saragano is in a stunningly beautiful area southwest of Montefalco, which is on the border of the Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG territory. It has been in the hands of the same family – the Pongelli Benedettoni family – since the Middle Ages. Today, the estate is managed by Count Riccardo Pongelli Benedettoni and his children.
In 2016, he joined forces with Ivan Vincarenti, vintner, sommelier, and consulting enologist, to better focus on making premium organic wines in a sustainable way. The estate sits at 500 meters elevation next to the hamlet of Saragano, and the vineyards are located at about 400-500 meters altitude.
The grapes are grown in a young vineyard in sandstone, clay, and silt soil at an altitude of 420 meters. It matures 4 months in steel and 3 months in the bottle. The result is a varietal wine with a distinct freshness, nice texture and structure, and good length. Lovely citrusy, herbal, spicy, and floral notes.
We also tasted a 2022 vintage of this Trebbiano Spoletino, where the ageing notes of flint, a light hint of petrol, and truffle were noticeable. The salty character is present in both wines.
Valdangius, Campo de’ Pico, Spoletino DOC, Trebbiano Spoletino, 2024
Valdangius is a winery that has moved forward slowly, and its wines have impressed me more each year. The first time I visited their winery was probably about 10 years ago. I liked the wines, but they were still searching for their firm identity. In 2010, Danilo Antonelli decided to start bottling their wines at the family farm and winery. Over the last few years, their consulting enologist has been Alessandro Meniconi, who has worked for several other Montefalco wineries.
The other week, I just loved their Campo de Pico, Spoletino DOC 2024; it is a charming mix of freshness, grit, personality, elegance, structure, and length. The fruity notes of stonefruit, melon, passionfruit, and banana come together with minerality and the more herbaceous notes, Mediterranean vegetation.
What is your take on Trebbiano Spoletino wines?
