An elegant wine with solid structure, deep ruby colour and complex aroma that recalls marasca cherries and blackberries, followed by notes of violet, light mentholated hints and a spicy finish. A wine of great concentration, fruity and slightly balsamic, it has soft and velvety tannins with a long, lingering finish.
 
Type of wine: long-aging red wine
Grape varietals: pure Sangiovese harvested at the beginning of September. Double spurred cordon; 4000 - 5000 vines / hectare; yield 6 tonnes/hectare
Vineyard: “Monticchio” vineyard, situated on a hillside at 300 metres above sea level, western exposure
Soil type: the Monticchio vineyard is located on Brufa hill. The land is of lacustrine origin and has a significant variety of soils: layers of clay fringes alternate with sandy layers, the latter being more frequent at mid- and lower-hill
Vineyard area: 15 hectares, of which only 12 have been utilized to produce Rubesco Riserva “Vigna Monticchio 2013”
Vinification: fermentation in stainless steel with 25-28 days of maceration on skins; wood aging in fine-grained oak barriques and barrels for about 12 months followed by 5 years aging in bottle
Colour: intense ruby red with violet nuances
Bouquet: elegant and complex, it recalls sour cherries and violets, with refined woody notes (cocoa and coffee); the finish is spicy, with pepper and cloves
Flavour: warm and velvety, with solid structure and complex, slightly balsamic fruitiness; lively and pleasantly fresh acidity, intriguing tannins; finish is long, with spicy closing notes
Alcohol by volume: 14%
Consumption: given the long stay in the bottle, decanting is recommended in order to fully appreciate its roundness and elegance; if kept in the proper conditions, average life-span is 30-35 years. Serve at 16-18°C (61-64°F) in a large stem glass. Since the wine has been lightly filtered before bottling, it could present some sediment
Food affinities: dishes of refined international cuisine, fillet with pepper and Japanese mustard, squab with black truffles, roast beef with wasabi, Peking duck, guinea hen “alla ghiotta”, aged cheeses
Focus: a special selection of Rubesco from the Monticchio vineyard, this is Lungarotti’s banner wine all over the world. Considered one of Italy’s very best red wines, it truly epitomizes Umbria, its rolling hills and its people, with a unique balance between strength and elegance
Label: bas relief depicting the harvest, detail from the Fontana Maggiore, one of Italy’s most beautiful 13th century fountains
 
Anecdotes
A DOCG wine since 1990 with retroactive recognition back to the 1983 vintage. Considered one of Italy’s best red wines, it is a profound expression of Umbria, of its hillsides and its people, with a perfect harmony between power and elegance. Rubesco is a proprietary trademark deriving from the Latin verb rubescere, to blush: hence, a joyous meaning. On the label, a bas-relief depicting the harvest, detail from the Fontana Maggiore of Perugia, one of Italy’s most beautiful 13th-century fountains.