Castello di Titignano

From Tenuta di Salviano comes this Umbrian blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  It's a full-bodied, soft-tannin red that shows a pomegranate color with complex spicy, intense red fruit flavors.  One critic thought the more savory aspects made the wine Rhone-ish in character.  

The Salvianos aren't novices at winemaking.  This estate has a twenty year history with the family but before that they were in Tuscany where they founded the Sassicaia Super Tuscan, one of the great red wines of Italy.  Umbria is adjacent to Tuscany to the north so they just moved to a lower rent district to create this more affordable version.

Turlo is the name of the Salviano vineyards in Umbria and they are located between Todi and Orvieto at an elevation of 150-380 meters on the north side of Lake Corbara, giving the vineyards a southern exposure.  The volcanic soils are red clay, limestone and pebbles.  The climate is Mediterranean, meaning mild winters and warm summers.

The Salvianos built a modern state of the art winery for this Umbrian IGT effort.  The grapes are hand harvested with types fermented separately with frequent pumping over before undergoing a malolactic fermentation.  Everything is temperature controlled at the winery including time spent aging in steel barrels.  Smaller lots see time in small French oak barriques.