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Umbria and fireplace is definitely an indissoluble connection. In the region il camino, is not simply an additional ornamental part of a kitchen.
When Autumn and its first cold days arrive, Umbrians start using their camino and not only to warm up their homes, but also to cook and grill. If you could be here during this period, you would smell the typical aromas of burning wood and, above all, delicious sausages, pork chops and bruschetta bread dressed with our fragrant extra virgin olive oil.
Photo credit: DiscoveringUmbria.it
On Christmas Day, the fireplace is on all day long and, after the never-ending lunch, one of the best ways to end this special family event is sitting in front of fireplace slowly sipping a glass of Montefalco Sagrantino Passito.
History and terroir of Montefalco Sagrantino Passito
Sagrantino grape has been cultivated in the area surrounding the Medieval village of Montefalco since ancient times.According to some sources, the grape has been here since the Roman times.
The historian Pliny the Elder, in the first century A.D., refers to a variety of grapes, called Itriola, grown and widely cultivated in the Roman town of Mevania, now Bevagna, one of the five municipalities in Montefalco wine area. Other sources say that in the Middle Ages the Franciscan friars brought this vine from Asia Minor and planted it in the place of Sangiovese.
Montefalco piazza. Photo credit: DiscoveringUmbria.it
One of the first official quotes of this wine dates back to the 1400 when the word Sagrantino, referring both to the grape and the wine, has been found in several documents and manuscripts.
The name Sagrantino meaning sacro, sacred, comes from its use. The Franciscan monks celebrated the Holy Mass with this wine in this sweet traditional version (today there is also an elegant modern dry version), called passito.
Photo credit: DiscoveringUmbria.it
Passito comes from the verb appassire, to dry up, a word that points out the process to obtain this special wine. After the harvest, in general at the beginning of October, the bunches are put on some racks for a couple of months to dry up naturally and to concentrate their flavours and sugar, obtaining a sort of raisin.
Later the dried grape is crushed and, once the fermentation process is finished, the precious liquid is aged in barrels for a minimum of 37 months and the last 4 months refined in bottle, strictly following the DOCG regulation of production.
Wine pairing
The Sacred Wine, born to be used during religions ceremonies, is now considered a unique dessert wine. Differently from other sweet wines, Sagrantino Passito starts off sweet, but finishes smoothly with a slight dryness given by the high quantity of elegant tannins. A wine that it’s always surprising, especially for those who prefer dry wines.
The intense and impenetrable ruby colour is a peculiar characteristic of Sagrantino, together with its unforgettable bouquet of dried fruits, blackberry and blueberry, black cherries, cinnamon and intense spices.
Called also “meditation wine” it goes perfectly with dry pastries, tozzetti, the famous almond biscotti, some kind of chocolate, crostata jam tart, and rocciata, a traditional Winter cake, similar to a strudel. Typical of the area of Foligno, rocciata is prepared in Assisi, Bastia Umbra, Spello, Bettona, Cannara and Bevagna.
Tozzetti. Photo credit: DiscoveringUmbria.it
Photo credit: Italian Lifestyle http://www.lifeitalianstyle.com/
Another surprising Sagrantino Passito food paring, that I love very much, is with our pecorino cheeses: the contrast between the salty and tasty aged cheese and the blackberry and blueberry jam flavours is simply perfect.
Cheers! Buon Natale!
A special thank goes to Jennifer at Life Italian Style for preparing a rocciata for us specifically for the photo in this post.
Would you like to know more about Montefalco Sagrantino? Do you have any questions for your Christmas dinner wine pairing? Feel free to ask Alessandra of DiscoveringUmbria.
