Monastero Suore Cistercensi, Sangiovese blend "Benedic" 2024 Lazio, Italy

This ethereal red wine comes from the Cistercian nuns of Vitorchiano, quietly crafting wines 60 miles north of Rome on volcanic soils for over six decades. When the sisters found themselves with surplus wine in the early 2000s, they enlisted the guidance of Giampiero Bea, son of celebrated natural winemaker Paolo Bea, who helped them reach a wider audience while maintaining their traditional, low-intervention methods. Benedic is their rarest and only red wine, produced in tiny quantities from this sacred blend.

Tasting Notes

Despite a two-week maceration, this beautifully pale, translucent wine shows a soft, almost coppery color at just 11% alcohol. The nose reveals a beguiling tapestry of black tea, wild plum, rock roses, and scrubby herbs, tinged with ample balsamic notes and rinsed with mineral salts. On the palate, it drinks with easy strawberry and raspberry jam, showing some weight with darker fruit undertones. Tannins are nubby to negligible, and acidity shines subtly, with all the calm understatedness that reflects its monastic origins.

Pairs With

antipasti, seafood, pizza, beef, veal, poultry, pasta

Ratings

91/100 - Treve Ring (Wine Anorak)