Fattoria Colsanto, a cross between Umbria and Friuli

Fattoria Colsanto, the Umbria winery owned by the Friuli estate Livon, is a mix of Umbrian wine and Friuli winemaking methods and food.

A white gate opens to a tree-line road rising up a hill. This is not in Tuscany but in Montefalco and at the top of the hill is Fattoria Colsanto, the Umbrian winery owned by the Livon estate. It was acquired by Valneo and Tonino Livon but was not the family’s first investment outside Friuli. Already in the 1990s, in fact, the family estate, which this year turns 55, invested in Tuscany, in Radda in the heart of Chianti Classico, where they created Borgo Salcetino in 1996.

The new century saw them turn their attention to Umbria and the creation of Colsanto, in 2001, in the town of Bevagna, a stone’s throw from Montefalco. This is a particular estate that unites the land of Umbria with the flavors and methods of the north, creating a reality that is at first unsettling but then strikes a perfect balance between Umbria and Friuli.

Thus is evident when you are pleasantly welcomed at the estate by Michele Italiani, the sales director at Colsanto and Umbrian for generations, and Nerina, a Friuli native who prepares a host of traditional Friuli dishes. One is immediately won over with her Frico, a simple recipe that, as often happens with simple things, is deceptive. This because it is not easy to find three different vintages of the northern Montasio cheese as the original recipe demands. The Sarde in saor, made with pine nuts, raisins and onions, is another Friuli delight that nicely pairs with Cantaluce, a Trebbiano Spolentino white from central Italy that seems as if it is from the north. This because enologist Rinaldo Stocco and agronomist Renato Cozzarolo are both from Friuli and they paid great attention to produce a Trebbiano Spolentino that could live up to expectations. Trebbiano Spolentino is a varietal that is on the up-and-up in Umbria because it provides producers with a grape that can produce a complex wine with a great propensity to age.

Aside from this white, the estate also produces wines from red grapes typical to the area, Sagrantino first among them along with Sangiovese and Montepulciano as well as Merlot. The estate also experiments with winemaking methods and aside from using barriques and other typical containers they use unfired clay “eggs”, clayvers, where Sagrantino matures for 24-36 months to see how it reacts to this material made from nonporous granite. It will be interesting to taste the result.

Umbrian wines and Friuli methods and foods, this is what you find at Fattoria Colsanto and it is expressed in well-made wines that keep getting better year after year.

Umbria Bianco Igt Cantaluce 2017 

90/100 - € 20

Made from Trebbiano Spolentino grapes and matured in 25hl barrels. The wine has an intense, straw-yellow color and an aroma of chamomile and yellow flowers, citrus and aromatic herbs. The structured and fresh mouthfeel is taut and saline with a long persistence.

Montefalco Sagrantino Docg 2015

90/100 - € 22

Made from Sagrantino grapes and matured for 15 months in wood and 12 months in stainless steel vats. A pale, ruby color and a smoky, balsamic aroma with sensations of red fruit and pepper. The mouthfeel is juicy and smoky, fresh and tannic with a nice persistence.

Montefalco Sagrantino Docg 2008 

91/100 -  € 25

Made from Sagrantino grapes, matured in wood. A garnet color and smoky bouquet with nuances of pepper, cinchona and dried fruit. The balanced and lively mouthfeel has integrated and elegant tannins and closes with notes of spice and cinchona.

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