Paolo Bea, Montefalco Sagrantino Cerrete, 2019

Sagrantino is a grape of serious muscle, and Cerrete is how Paolo Bea gives it grace: they grow it in the highest vineyard in Montefalco. The vines sit between 1,300 and 1,500 feet on clay and limestone studded with small pebbles from an ancient riverbed. The site runs cooler and drier than the estate's other vineyards. The cellar work is pure Bea. Fermentation starts on its own, in steel tanks with no temperature control, and the wine is bottled without fining or filtration. Giampiero Bea, who has long run the estate, is one of the pillars of Italian natural wine. Montefalco's archives place the family there as early as 1500. A Sagrantino this structured rewards patience. If you open it young, decant it well ahead.