Umbria's benchmark everyday red from Sagrantino pioneer Arnaldo Caprai. A blend of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino and 15% Merlot, aged 12 months in barrique. Wildflowers, red cherry and nutmeg, dry and fresh with firm, ripe tannins. Serve at 18°C.
Caprai's technical sheet leads with wildflowers, red fruit and a touch of nutmeg over a dry, fresh palate. Twelve months in barrique layer in the vanilla, oak and tobacco that Vivino's 19,000-plus drinkers note repeatedly.
Intense, brilliant ruby in the glass. The producer's own notes lead with wildflowers, red fruit and a touch of nutmeg, and 12 months in barrique layer in vanilla and a whisper of tobacco that Vivino drinkers pick out repeatedly.
Violet
Cherry
Plum
Tobacco
Nutmeg
Oak
Liquorice
VanillaDry and fresh on entry, with Sangiovese acidity framing red cherry and plum. The 15% Sagrantino shows in firm, slightly dusty tannins, softened by the Merlot share and the barrique ageing. Medium-bodied and savoury rather than plush.
The close stays dry and gently grippy, carrying nutmeg-tinged spice and a faint oak-and-tobacco note over moderate length.
Umbria's everyday benchmark from the estate that revived Sagrantino, drinking best across its first 6 to 8 years. Vivino's 19,000-plus ratings settle near 3.7 out of 5, with drinkers praising its food-friendly balance and value near 18 pounds.
Two UK retailers list the wine between 18 and 23 pounds, with the 2022 the easier vintage to find in stock. The price reflects its status as Umbria's value benchmark from the estate that revived Sagrantino.
On the Italian Wine Fit dimensions it reads as a high-value, food-first Umbrian red: strong at the table, generous on price near 18 pounds, and approachable for newcomers to indigenous grapes like Sagrantino.
Sangiovese acidity and moderate Sagrantino tannin make it a versatile match for cured meats, tomato pasta and roast meats.
At about 18 pounds with 92 to 93 point critic scores, it over-delivers for a DOC red from a benchmark estate.
An approachable, fruit-forward way into Sangiovese and Umbria's Sagrantino without the tannic weight of full Sagrantino di Montefalco.
Sub-20-pound, food-friendly and ready on release, it suits midweek tables and casual entertaining.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our editorial methodology.
A compact view of what the Montefalco denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
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Both recent releases drew strong notices: the 2022 took 92 points from Wine Enthusiast, while the 2023 earned 92 from Falstaff and 93/99 from Luca Maroni. Caprai gives the wine 6 to 8 years of cellar life.
Critics rated the 2023 highly for the appellation, Falstaff at 92 and Luca Maroni at 93/99, and Vivino drinkers call it a top year for this wine. Built to drink from release into the early 2030s.
A warm, dry growing season in central Italy gave ripe, structured fruit; Wine Enthusiast scored Caprai's 2022 Montefalco Rosso 92 points. Drinking well now and through the late 2020s.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
From the Torre estate at Montefalco, Arnaldo Caprai built its name researching and replanting Sagrantino through the 1970s and 1980s. Montefalco Rosso is its everyday expression of that work, Sangiovese-led with the local grape woven through.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Montefalco is in the DOC tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Montefalco falls within Umbria , covering Umbria.
Arnaldo Caprai farms its own Sangiovese and Sagrantino at the Torre estate at 5,000 to 6,000 vines per hectare, costlier than bought-in grapes and a clear step above supermarket Umbrian reds.
Sagrantino is thick-skinned, late-ripening and low-yielding; even a 15% share in the blend adds vineyard cost a pure Sangiovese red would avoid.
A year in small oak barriques, then at least four months in bottle, ties up barrel and cellar cost that tank-aged everyday reds skip.
Montefalco Rosso sits below Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG, with lighter ageing rules and no single-grape premium, keeping the UK price near 18 pounds rather than the DOCG's 30-plus.
Caprai makes around 200,000 bottles of Montefalco Rosso a year, and that scale plus wide UK distribution holds the shelf price down.
UK alcohol duty of 2.67 pounds a bottle on still wine up to 15% ABV, plus 20% VAT, accounts for over 5 pounds of the roughly 18-pound shelf price before retailer margin.
Dishes that complement this wine
Caprai pairs the wine with cured-meat and cheese antipasti, succulent first courses and roast white and red meats at 18 degrees. Its bright acidity and firm tannin handle fat and char without flattening the plate.
Sangiovese acidity and the firm Sagrantino tannin cut through fat and bind with grilled protein, refreshing the palate between bites of a chargrilled steak or a slow roast.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Porchetta · Agnello Ragu Lucano · Lasagna · More pairings →
The producer's own pairing of salumi and medium-aged cheese works because the wine's acidity scrubs away salt and fat, while moderate tannin stands up to a hard sheep's cheese.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Porchetta · Lasagna · More pairings →
Bright Sangiovese acidity mirrors the acidity of a tomato ragu, so a baked lasagna or a long-cooked meat sauce tastes balanced rather than sharp against the wine.
Try with: Lasagna · Agnello Ragu Lucano · Tagliatelle al tartufo di Acqualagna · More pairings →
Medium body keeps the wine from burying roast pork or chicken; its savoury, herb-tinged profile echoes the fennel and rosemary of an Umbrian porchetta.
Try with: Porchetta · Fiorentina steak · More pairings →
Sagrantino lends an earthy, spiced edge that bridges to porcini and truffle, lifting a mushroom risotto or a truffled tagliatelle without clashing with the fungi.
Try with: Porcini mushroom risotto · Truffle risotto · Tagliatelle al tartufo di Acqualagna · More pairings →
The firm Sagrantino tannin amplifies chilli heat and turns bitter against fiery food, so the wine fights rather than flatters a hot curry or a Sichuan hotpot.
Skip with: Vindaloo · Sichuan hotpot · spicy laksa · Pairing guide →
This is an everyday red built for drinking across its first 6 to 8 years rather than a long-haul cellar wine. The 12-month barrique and 4-month bottle ageing give early-drinking polish, while the firmer Sagrantino tannin lets strong vintages such as 2022 hold.
Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Built for drinking over 6 to 8 years rather than decades; firm Sagrantino tannin lets strong vintages hold, but it is not a long-haul cellar wine.
£18.44 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 7 Jun 2026, 14:29 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumIt is a blend of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino and 15% Merlot. The Sagrantino, Montefalco's signature grape, adds grip and dark-fruit depth to the Sangiovese base, while the Merlot rounds the texture.
Arnaldo Caprai gives it 6 to 8 years of cellaring potential. The wine spends 12 months in barrique and at least 4 months in bottle before release, so recent vintages drink well now and hold for several years.
The producer recommends cured-meat and cheese antipasti, succulent first courses and roast white and red meats, served at 18 degrees. Umbrian porchetta, Fiorentina steak and ragu-rich pasta all suit its acidity and tannin.
No. Montefalco Rosso is a Sangiovese-led DOC blend with a small Sagrantino share, lighter and more approachable. Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG is 100% Sagrantino, far more tannic and built for long ageing.
UK listings sit around 18 to 23 pounds a bottle, which places it among the better-value benchmark Umbrian reds given its 92 to 93 point critic scores.
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