Lungarotti
For many wine enthusiasts, the region of Umbria is known
to them essentially through Lungarotti, a winery established
in the 1960s by Giorgio Lungarotti, an agronomist and viticulturalist.
Lungarotti essentially gave Umbria a regional presence
throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and was instrumental in
securing the DOC designation for Torgiano in 1968 and subsequent
1990 upgrade to DOCG standing. And though its substantive
output (current production totals two and a half million
bottles per year) somewhat impaired the firm’s focus
in the ’90s, its present efforts validate its image-bearing
status.
Foremost among these marks of distinction is Lungarotti’s
representation of Umbria’s traditional orientation,
an approach that stands in marked contrast to this region’s
modern persona, articulated through wines crafted from
the principal international varieties that characteristically
deliver intense fruit. The Lungarotti style privileges
a savory quality derived through its aging regimen, a rigorous
discipline that entails aging in large casks and an extended
period of bottle maturation. Some of the bottlings, in
fact, including the house flagship—Rubesco Vigna
Monticchio Riserva, a single-vineyard effort representing
a blend of Sangiovese and Canaiolo —rest in bottle
for a minimum of five years prior to release. Despite the
attention received by Umbria’s denser, sweeter reds,
Lungarotti’s Rubesco is considered the standard bearer
for the region’s reds. A younger version of this
bottling—Lungarotti’s most popular wine—is
offered in the producer’s Classics line (the portfolio
comprises three levels of wines—Classics, Young Wines,
and Reserves), which offers several blends representing
both indigenous and international varieties.
Despite Lungarotti’s traditional orientation, Cabernet
Sauvignon is a constituent of some note in the portfolio
(it is more often associated with modern productions),
a condition likely owing to the second chance Lungarotti
afforded it. Though Cabernet had succumbed to phylloxera
at the close of the 19th century, Giorgio revitalized its
dormant Umbrian career in the 1960s. First and foremost,
however, Lungarotti is known for its earthy expression
of Sangiovese, which reaches its height in the aforementioned
Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Riserva.
Lungarotti participates in its DOC’s primary contribution
to the white wine category, which is dominated by Trebbiano
Toscano–Grechetto blends. It also exerts against
the grain tendencies in its production of a varietal Chardonnay.
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