From Umbria, a gorgeous white: I love to hunt in Umbria, beautiful country, great truffles, dramatic wine, and now crowds. Let 'em stay on the other side of the mountains. I'd rather be with Giampero Bea, a visionary Umbrian who takes the slow all-natural path. In the Santa Chiara, he blended five traditional grapes, added no sulfites and stood back. They made a real beauty, rich and full of ripe fruits dusted with sweet spice and orange peel. This is not refrigerator white, but a gutsy gourmand that will sit down with big dishes, unfraid of fat, cream, fire or spice. - Bob Sprentall
The 2008 Santa Chiara is a gorgeous wine. Sweet spices, orange peel and ripe fruit come together beautifully in this rich, expansive white. The finish is long and impeccable. Santa Chiara is a blend of equal parts Grechetto, Malvasia, Sauvignon, Garganega and Sauvignon, which were co-fermented for 15 days. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2017.
Giampiero Bea is one of Umbria’s leading producers. The wines are made in a totally natural, non-interventionalist style, with no temperature control in fermentation, only natural yeasts and no added sulfites. At their best, these are wonderfully pure, expressive wines loaded with character. Because Bea lets nature runs its course, the wines are highly vintage sensitive. In great years the wines are typically fabulous but in weaker vintages the wines tend to reflect both the positive and negative attributes of those years to a higher degree than most wines these days. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on one’s point of view, but there is no mistaking that when Bea has ideal conditions to work with his wines are stellar. 91 points, Antonio Galloni for Robert Parker's Wine Advocate #189 (JUNE 2010)
"The 2008 Santa Chiara is one of the most unique, pure and expressive wines I have ever tasted. Giampiero Bea, one of Umbria's leading producers, is totally el natural, non-interventionalist style, with no temperature control in fermentation, only natural yeasts and no added sulfites. Santa Chiara is an interesting blend of equal parts Grechetto, Malvasia, Sauvignon, Garganega and Sauvignon, which were co-fermented for 15 days. This gorgeous wine is sweetly spiced, lifted with orange zest and exotic ripe fruits. Loaded with character until the very end with its long and seamless finish. Much to anticipate down the road with this wine so I purchased 7 bottles to sample a more mature Chiara each year till 2017." 93SS
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