Paolo Bea (1.5 L) 2017 Montefalco Sagrantino, Cerrete, DOCG

With its mineral-rich soils and its acidity-enhancing altitude (450 to 500 meters), Cerrete—the highest-altitude vineyard in Montefalco—yields a wine not more powerful than Bea’s other pure-Sagrantino titan “Pagliaro,” but with greater nuance and a finer expression of detail. In acknowledgment of its stature, Giampiero gives it an additional year in large Slavonian oak, making for a five-year stint in barrel before the prescribed resting period in bottle. This 2017 is a benchmark—soaringly aromatic (cumin, cardamom) and wild to its core, yet refined like a great old-school Brunello—with 44 days of maceration and an alcohol percentage of 15% which the wine supports effortlessly.