Lungarotti, the Heart of Umbria lives in a glass of Rubesco Vigna Monticchio

Chiara Lungarotti, Maria Grazia Marchetti and Teresa Severini

I met Chiara Lungarotti during some interviews, when she was the national president of the Italian Wine Tourism Movement. She isn’t even that appointment but – actually – that role has sure got under her skin. The Lungarotti wineries (of which Chiara is the CEO) are a shining sample of how the hospitality of wine tourists and of all types of visitors should be managed. How do you do it? Proving availability, professionalism, passion, ability to tell their own story.
I can surely say this concept: the heart of Umbria really beats in the lands and wines of this company founded by Chiara’s father, Giorgio Lungarotti, in 1962. With his wife, Maria Grazia Marchetti, great woman of culture, Giorgio he also founded in Torgiano the Wine Museum and the Olive and Oil Museum and in 1987 the Lungarotti Foundation, with the goal of enhancing the culture and the tradition of regional agriculture (and not only).
Graduated in agriculture, with specialization in viticulture, Chiara’s motto is: “Keeping, continuing, expanding, but remaining faithful to our beloved region: Umbria”.

Umbria is the “green heart of Italy”: it is located in the center of the Peninsula and is easily reachable from Rome and Florence. Chiara Lungarotti is the first woman of Italian wine in the “Top 10 women in Italian wine” ranking compiled by Tom Bruce Gardyne and published on the website of the London magazine The Drinks Business. Currently, the Women Trio leading the “Lungarotti World” is completed very well by Teresa Severini, Chiara’s sister: she is one of the first women oenologist in Italy and the winemaker of all Lungarotti wines.
Lungarotti owns two wineries in the historic territories of the Umbrian viticulture: at Torgiano and at Montefalco where the company produces Sagrantino. The latter is a fully biological winery.
But now I want to talk about the Torgiano Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Riserva (Reserve) DOCG, the historical and most important brand wine of the company, and also one of the most popular Italian red wines in Italy and abroad. I’ve tasted it several times, since many years, and I’ve always found it extraordinary. What is its primary quality? Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Riserva manages to keep the highest level in all years. In short: it is a wine that never disappoints!
Wine born from the Sangiovese vineyards cultivated on the Brufa hill, at Torgiano (14 kilometers South of Perugia, the chief town of Umbria): Vigna Monticchio is located on clayey soils mixed with sandy layers, about 300 meters above sea level. Only 12 of the 15 hectares of the vineyard, are used for the production of Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Riserva.
My tasting note. Rubesco Riserva Vigna Monticchio Torgiano DOCG vintage 2012.
The freshness of red fruit like blackberry emerges, then the floral of violet and the smoky note. And still light shades of tobacco, coffee, black pepper and sweet spices are appreciated on a clear balsamic background. The taste is fresh, fruity, rich, muscular and elegant at the same time, with fine tannins and a pleasant smoky note in the long finish of the sip. Its qualities can be summarized in three adjectives: complexity, intensity, softness. It’s a “Reserve” wine which – in my opinion – must always be “line up” in the Top Team of the most exciting Italian Reds. You can also drink even in 10-20 years.
Some technical data. Vinification: fermentation in steel with maceration on the skins for 25-28 days; aging in oak barrels and barriques for about 12 months and then 5 years in the bottle. It will be on the market after 6 years from the harvest. Therefore, you will find it on sale since second half of 2018.