Wines

“Lapideus” Umbria Bianco: Giampiero acquired a parcel of 80-year-old Trebbiano Spoletino in the town of Pigge di Trevi several years back, and thus with this 2014 we have an exciting new addition to the Bea lineup. Arising from a cooler microclimate than the “Arboreus” above, “Lapideus” spent a lengthy 35 days on it skins after pressing, followed by 210 additional days on the gross lees—a similar vinification to “Arboreus,” yet one that yielded entirely different results. Though no less deeply amber in its appearance, “Lapideus” has a leaner, racier carriage than the broad-shouldered “Arboreus,” with more filigree, a less overwhelmingly intense nose of apricots, cloves, and candied ginger. If “Arboreus” is a sea to swim in, “Lapideus” is a rocket to ride, emphasizing drive and lift over layered density. It is still a wine of impressive power, especially given its modest 12% alcohol, but the fruit is more direct, pure, and foregrounded. So often the so-called “orange wines” seem to stand alone, iconoclastic creations that defy fine-tuned peer-group comparisons and revel in their singular personalities. Even the discourse that surrounds them tends to treat them more as wines of technique than wines of terroir. Thus, it is fascinating to experience the same grape variety given roughly the same treatment by the same grower, whereby the differences in the wines are largely driven by the differences in their underlying places of origin.

“Cotidie” Umbria Rosso: “Cotidie” (“quotidian” in Latin) was conceived as an “everyday” wine for its relatively easygoing and drinkable spirit. The methodology behind it feels outré today but would have been common practice for the ancients to whom its Latin name pays tribute: a co-fermentation of both red and white grapes—in this case, Sagrantino and Trebbiano—grown in close proximity to one another, and yielding a lip-smacking wine that’s hard to pigeonhole. In its vibrant ruby color, it sits in the interzone between a dark rosato and a light red, and it offers the heady spice we all love in Bea’s Sagrantino, albeit on a softer, lighter frame.