2008 Arnaldo Caprai Spinning Beauty
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Tasting notes
A dark, intense mix of cedar dust, dried florals and dark earth evolves further to show masses of ripe black cherries as the 2008 Sagrantino di Montefalco Spinning Beauty unfolds in the glass. Its soft and enveloping textures are offset by hard tannins. It keeps its balance through a mix of intense primary fruit, savory minerals and acids and hints of tobacco and sweet inner florals. This tapers off long and dramatic, showing a mix of tart red and blue berries with saturating spiciness, as its grippy tannins begin to clench the senses in a youthfully angular expression. It's hard to see where the 2008 is going, but next to the 2010, which is built like a skyscraper, and the 2008, a well-muscled dancer, this vintage lags behind.
Critic scores
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Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
Eric Guido, Vinous
More reviews and scores
I tasted bottle 562 of only 999 made. The 2008 Montefalco Sagrantino Spinning Beauty is one of the most complete and ambitious expressions of the Sagrantino grape I have yet to taste. Paying homage to the Caprai family background in Umbrian cashmere and textiles, Spinning Beauty is indeed an elaborate embroidery of flavors and complex aromas. There are some tertiary tones here of licorice, smoke and campfire ash, but the wine's primary fruit is intact with dried blackberry and sweet plum. Perhaps the wine's spice component—with clove, nutmeg and saffron—is the most difficult to pin down and describe. There is a lot to contemplate and admire here.