From “Falstaff”, the “Lifetime Achievement Award” to Marco Caprai, architect of Sagrantino’s rebirth

“At 60 years old, Marco Caprai is certainly not at the end of his creative rope. But in the nearly 40 years dedicated to wine, he has accomplished something extraordinary. The name of Marco Caprai and the Arnaldo Caprai winery in Montefalco, Umbria, is inextricably linked to Sagrantino di Montefalco. Sagrantino is considered the grape variety with the highest tannin content in the world, and in the 1970s, because of its low yield and the generous structure of its wines, it had almost fallen into oblivion. Caprai brought Sagrantino back into vogue. Originally, however, everything had started very differently. Marco had studied political science and had little to do with wine and viticulture. However, there was the Val di Maggio estate, which his father, textile entrepreneur Arnaldo Caprai, had purchased in the early 1970s. After some hesitation, Marco started working on the estate anyway and was initially mainly involved in management. But soon he was seized by ambition”. Words from “Falstaff”, the most important magazine in food and wine communication, travel and design in German-speaking countries, which awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” to Marco Caprai, the architect of the rebirth of Sagrantino di Montefalco, and its territory, brought to international prominence as Umbria’s wine-symbol, at the helm of the family winery, Arnaldo Caprai (and whose “true story” is told on WineNews, and which has already earned him such important accolades as the 2012 “European Winery of the Year” from “Wine Enthusiast”, as a “Model of Sustainability” from Expo Milano 2015, and, recently, the title of Officer of Merit of the Italian Republic by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella for the project that, with Caritas, supports migrants among the vineyards, also awarded by the UN).
“A beautiful recognition, which rewards a 40-year-long commitment not only of me, but of all our collaborators”, says Marco Caprai, who, in the pages of the “Falstaff Wein Guide Italien” 2025 dedicated to the “Lifetime Achievement Award”, jokes, “Lifetime Achievement Award, for me? But I’m not that old yet, said Marco Caprai when we told him the news of his award. Yes, usually such awards are given at the end of a long working career”. But for the volcanic producer, this is not the case.
“Blame Sagrantino, a variety around which many myths still circulate today”, recalls ‘Falstaff. “Traditionally, Sagrantino was often vinified as a sweet wine with a noticeable residual sweetness. The sweetness allowed it to cushion the massive structure of tannins. The result was a fascinating interplay between sweetness and bitter notes, an opulent sweet wine that surely had to pair perfectly with many medieval dishes. But the Middle Ages were over, sweet wines were no longer fashionable, and everyone wanted dry and especially cheap wines. Marco Caprai, however, did not let this discourage him, planted Sagrantino and began to produce dry, powerful Sagrantino. In the 1990s everyone was asking for wines of power, and Sagrantino was the wine of the moment. He won over wine experts with his Collepiano, and in 1996 he raised the bar again with the 25-year-old Sagrantino. But Marco Caprai was far-sighted enough to realize that the boom would end. With enthusiasm, therefore, he worked to make Sagrantino more refined and elegant. In 2015 he called Michel Rolland (the most influential winemaker of our time, ed.) to Montefalco for this purpose. Rolland developed a whole winemaking process specifically for Sagrantino, which gave the wine more fruit and made the tannins a little softer. But don’t worry: Sagrantino has certainly not become an easy, pandering wine”. The most significant expression of whole winemaking, according to “Falstaff”, is found in Spinning Beauty, which is distinguished by a fine bouquet with lots of fruit, and on the palate offers impressive tannins, but still flows smoothly”.
The award ceremony will take place at Eataly in Munich on November 26.