For decades now, the Bea family has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of Umbrian wine; the Sagrantino grape in particular. Paolo began crafting wonderful, authentic wines of terroir decades ago and his son Giampero has successfully taken over the estate. They continue to be some of Italy's most artful and compelling wines.

The focus is on indigenous grapes, specifically the rugged and distinctive Sagrantino. It's a grape with an extraordinarily high number of phenolic compounds, more than almost any other. It can be wild and untamed, but with long maceration times and long aging—in barrel and in bottle, like Bea does—it melds into something exotic and exciting. The name Sagrantino itself most likely derives from the Latin "sagra", or feast, and it is indeed a feast for the senses.

What importer Rosenthal Wine Merchant has to say about this wine...

A white wine produced from Grechetto, Malvasia, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Garganega, in approximately equal proportions, planted in the Pagliaro vineyard, a site with alternating layers of gravel and clay at 1,300 feet above sea level with both east and southwest facing parcels. After crushing, the juice spends at least two weeks macerating on its lees; sulfur is never added. Fermentation occurs in small stainless steel vats at low temperatures. Two rackings are done early in the fermentation process to remove the heavy deposits and a third is done after three weeks. This wine is then left on the fine lees in stainless steel for one year before being bottled. Approximately 4,500 bottles of wine are produced annually.

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