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2019 Paolo Bea 'Lapideus" Umbria Bianco

Regular price $76.00
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Style: White

Vintage: 2019

Grape Variety: White Blend

Country: Italy

Region: Umbria

Subregion:

Bin Location: 5307


Ask any experienced sommelier for list of iconic Italian producers, and Paolo Bea is sure to be on it. Bea is most known for his incredible and age worthy expressions of Sagrantino, and he has been an icon and champion for native Italian wines for years. For those unfamiliar, Sagrantino is Umbria's signature indigenous grape and by far their most prized. It's a burly, powerful variety known for roaring tannins and crunchy, ripe black fruits with notes of smokey cedar and tons of herbs and spices like anise and rosemary. If high tannins are your thing then Sagrantino is your perfect match. These wines are intense and fiery in their youth but also bursting with charm and powerful fruit that stands up to and even harmonizes with the muscular structure. Paolo Bea is an icon for a reason as he somehow manages to tame this wild beast of a grape and turn it into some of the most seductive and pleasurable wines of Italy. 

While Paolo Bea's style is sometimes put in the natural wine camp, the family's winemaking experience dates back over 500 years, and the wines are just incredibly traditional and without any modern, flashy winemaking techniques. In essence, Paolo was making "natural wine" before natural wine was even a thing. Despite their low sulfur additions, zero new oak, and more rustic traditional winemaking, these powerful, tannic, behemoths crafted from the classic varieties of the Central Italian waistline are generously ripe and fleshy and often clock in around 14.5 to 15% ABV. These wines are often so big in youth they would make any Napa wine but Harlan Estate pink in the cheeks. As high-end Italian importer Neal Rosenthal puts it "Bea’s wines remain singular—boisterous, unabashedly wild expressions of their undulating, sun-drenched hills of origin, each new vintage of which is eagerly anticipated by a legion of loyal clients." Their opulence and grippy tannic structure is balanced by a space opera of exotic spices, herbs and aromatics tantrically woven into a velvet fabric. These are a must try for vinous explorers and all those passionate about Italian wine. If you love rustic, traditionally made wines or native Italian grapes and have not discovered these yet, welcome to your next dream wines. - BRANDON KERNE, MASTER SOMMELIER 

Per Rosenthal Wine Merchant (Paolo Bea's US Importer): “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."

92 Points from Eric Guido of Vinous: "The 2019 Lapideus is honeyed with dried peaches and apricots, complemented by spiced blood orange. This is lively and softly textured, soothing the senses with mineral-tinged pit fruits and sweet spices. It finishes with tension, puckering the cheeks as hints of nectarine and liquid stone slowly fade."

How do I pick up my wine?

Orders are generally ready within 1-2 business days, but you can always email or call us for a status update. 

Need your wine fast? Just call us! We can expedite the order and may have it ready in less than an hour.

Houston Orders

After checking out, you will receive a pickup confirmation email when the order has been pulled and packed. You can pickup your wine at our shop at 2301 Portsmouth Street in Upper Kirby, Houston.

San Antonio Orders

Thanks for your patience as we prepare to fully open the shop in San Antonio! Any wine that is ordered with a selection to pickup in San Antonio will be available for pickup in San Antonio in 2-3 business days unless otherwise stated. If you have any questions, you can reach out to Josh at (210) 388-5556. You can pick up your wine at 2810 N Flores Street in the Alta Vista neighborhood of San Antonio.

For more information, or if you need your wine more quickly, reach out to us at info@aocselections.com and we will do everything we can to accomodate.

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