Paolo Bea “Pagliaro” Sagrantino di Montefalco 2018 1.5L MAGNUM

Bea produces perhaps his most renowned wine from pure Sagrantino grown on the prized hilltop site of Pagliaro, situated at 1300 feet above sea level in Montefalco proper. Bea’s wines at their best offer a panoply of spices so intoxicating, so far-reaching, so evocative, as to nearly defy belief. The only wines that approach Bea’s in that regard are perhaps the most un-sculpted Syrah-based wines of the Northern Rhône, but even those feel as if they have governors on their accelerators in comparison to top vintages of “Pagliaro.” This 2016 offers remarkable purity of varietal expression, and its wildness is reined in by its well-articulated but not overwhelming structure, and by its almost unbelievably suave (for Sagrantino!) tannins.