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Uncorked: Chiara Lungarotti
Having studied viticulture at Perugia University, Chiara Lungarotti took over the family’s Lungarotti winery in Umbria in 1999 when her father Giorgio died. She has since added a small estate in Montefalco.
1971 – a great vintage for Italian wines and superb here in Umbria.
What bottle sparked your love of wine?
More than a bottle, it was a moment – the first time my father made me taste an incredible, full-bodied Sangiovese at the end of its fermentation. I was a little kid and I still remember that incredible feeling.
Ambition or talent – what matters more?
Talent is essential, but ambition is crucial.
What would you be as a wine?
I like to think I’d be something extremely smooth and rolling in your mouth, with a tannin that is very dense and silky at the same time. To describe it in two words it would be: “elegant and powerful”, like our Rubesco Riserva Vigna Monticchio.
Where are you happiest?
Walking in the vineyards with my family. If I could spend all my time like that I would be the happiest person on face of the earth.
What’s your greatest vice?
I never desist and to reach my the goal I can truly be a pain in the neck
Best advice you ever got?
Make every important decision on your own and don’t be influenced by anybody. You have to be responsible for the success or failure of what you decide.
Your cellar’s underwater, which bottle would you dive in and save?
Pio Cesare, Barolo 1971
What’s the best & worst thing about the wine business?
Best is the passion for wine and its fantastic and unique expressions all over the world. Worst is allowing the passion to prevail and not keeping the right balance with the rest of your personal life.
Personal satisfaction (Parker points – out of 100)
95
Desert island vine?
Vermentino: it’s one of the Italian white grapes I love most, with its unique capacity for maintaining freshness despite the hottest climates and, at the same time, presenting a very unique personality.
Which wine would you like served at your funeral?
I would love it if they started serving a wine that keeps the sadness away and brings serenity to my dear ones….like a Sauternes Extravagant de Doisy-Daene and then, soon after, our Sagrantino passito to be matched with chocolate.