Sagrantino

Today, we are in the little village of Montefalco, in Perugia, part of Umbria in wine lingo, about 90 miles nearly due north of Rome. We're drinking Sagrantino, sometumes Sagrantino di Montefalco, one of the healthiest red wines there is due to its high polyphenol (antioxidant) content. You knew there was at least one really good reason to drink Sagrantino, didn't you?

Sgrantino is an easy grape to grow. It's thick-skinned and disease-resistant, but it yields very small amounts of grapes from each vine. It also ripens extremely late in the season, long after both Nebbiolo or Cabernet Sauvignon, for example. It's also far more tannic than either of those other tannic grapes. And, it is absolutely bone dry. So, if you don't like to feel your mouth puckering when you drink wine, this may not be the grape for you.

For those of you who are still with me, Sagrantino is very dark on the palate with black plum, black licorice, black pepper, black tea, and black olive. Notice a pattern? It's also full of body and typically quite high in alcoholic content.

When pairing Sagrantino, we need foods that can hold up to it. Try something like Steak Diane with its hearty beef and mushrooms in a brandy sauce or for people from my old stomping grounds in New Jersey, a Jimmy Buff's sausage sandwich. And, with any of those foods, toss in some particularly sharp cheese like romano pecorino or parmigianno reggiano and you'll have a great match.

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