We had an easygoing Sangiovese from Antonelli in the March case this year. We wouldn’t normally repeat a producer so quickly but when we heard that the winery was doing a special ex-cellar release of their 2009 Montefalco Sagrantino, a wine that benefits from long aging even more than rivals like Barolo and Brunello, we were interested. And when we tasted it, it was undeniable: there couldn’t be a better value for a wintertime red. We covered in the March overview why Umbria isn’t as famous for its wines as the quality of the wines would suggest, but in the case of the Sagrantino di Montefalco, the historical isolation of Umbria is only part of the story. While Sagrantino has been grown in the region since time immemorial, and evidence of sweet, passito Sagrantino di Montefalco wines is abundant, historical documentation of dry wines made from Sagrantino, which Umbrian producers swear have always been made, is lacking. Whatever the case may be, the recent history of Montefalco Sagrantino is an astonishing success story: after almost going extinct after WWII, Sagrantino di Montefalco was awarded DOC status in 1979 and then DOCG in 1992, the number of hectares planted to Sagrantino has skyrocketed from almost zero to almost 1000 and the number of producers has gone from less than a dozen in 2010 to more than 70 today. Quite a few Italian wine experts have proclaimed Montefalco Sagrantino as the most underrated Italian red, and wines from well established producers such as Antonelli, who have run their famed estate since the late 19th century and became certified organic in 2012, have achieved cult status with pricing that is starting to rival Barolo and Brunello. Sagrantino makes the most tannic wine in Italy so the DOCG regulations dictate at least 30 months of aging, but in this case the certified organic grapes were aged in lightly toasted 500 L barrels for 6 months, then in 2500 liter oak botti for 18 months, followed by 1 year in cement casks and then 12 years in bottle. Its intense flavors of dark cherry, wild berry, orange peel, anis and clove and rich mouthfeel demand a fine cut of beef, osso buco or a pasta with a true, meaty bolognese sauce.