Arnaldo Caprai, an Italian pioneer who helped put the near-extinct Sagrantino grape back on the wine world’s map, died Jan. 4. He was 92.
Caprai founded his eponymous winery in 1971 after achieving success as an entrepreneur in the textiles industry, purchasing a 108-acre estate with 10 acres of vineyards. He saw potential in the dark, densely tannic Sagrantino grape, thought to be native to central Italy’s Umbria and grown for centuries in the region. Despite Sagrantino’s long history, after World War II the variety nearly became extinct.
Wineries such as Caprai helped to reestablish Sagrantino wines, and today more than 90 percent of the world’s plantings are found in Umbria. In the 1970s, most Sagrantino was used to produce a dessert-style wine from dried, or passito, grapes. But Caprai and a handful of other area producers believed it could also be used to produce robust and ageable, dry red wines.
Fellow Montefalco vintner Giampaolo Tabarrini remembers Caprai's kindness and his fierce pride in Montefalco wine. "I clearly remember one of the first Tre Bicchieri awards from Gambero Rosso that I received. At that time, the awarded wineries used to be called onto the stage. It was about 20 years ago," said Tabarrini. "What Arnaldo told me has remained fixed in my mind as a milestone. He said: 'Now, Giampaolo, we will wait until they have called all of us, and only when they are finished will we stand up together and go on stage together to receive our awards, because in this way we give the right weight and the right impression of the Montefalco area.' I was very young and felt like a dwarf next to the giant Arnaldo, but he was so warm, sincere and friendly. He made it clear that what really mattered was writing a beautiful story and making us proud to come from Montefalco."
In 1986, Caprai’s son, Marco, joined his father at the winery. After a short period working together, Arnaldo handed the winery to Marco. With his father’s vision in mind, Marco expanded plantings of Sagrantino, and today the winery farms nearly 400 acres of vineyards, with the majority planted to Sagrantino. Marco worked with the University of Milan to identify Sagrantino clones geared toward dry red production and implemented training systems to promote phenolic ripeness and manage the grape’s intense tannins.
In 2015, French consulting enologist Michel Rolland joined the Caprai winery, helping to craft the estate’s Sagrantino wines. Today this lineup includes seven different reds bottled under the Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG (always 100 percent Sagrantino), including the recently-released Montefalco Sagrantino Spinning Beauty 2015 (95, $583), marking Arnaldo Caprai winery as a leader for the category.
Arnaldo Caprai is survived by his wife Fiorella and his three children Marco, Luca and Arianna.
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