The first official document that mentions the vine goes back to the sixteenth century, and is preserved in the deed of Assisi. However, there are numerous historical antecedents. Pliny the Elder in his "Natural History", describes the Itriola typical grape of the area, which some experts believe similar to the Sagrantino. Other sources suggest that the variety has been imported from Asia Minor by the followers of Saint Francis: the name can be traced back to the Sacraments as the grape has been cultivated by monks who used it as a complimentary passes for religious rites. No shortage of supporters of the indigenous, which would be obtained by selecting clones premises.
If you already wrote in 1088 of lands planted with vines in Montefalco, date from the thirteenth century a number of documents that attested to the constant care that "the tenants to reserve field planted with vines." From the first half of the fourteenth century began the municipal laws to protect lives and wine, devoting whole chapters and sections of municipal statutes. In 1451 the renowned Florentine painter Benozzo Gozzoli, called by the Franciscans to paint the apse of the church, and now among the largest municipal museum in central Italy, Sagrantino painting might be alluding to the bottle of red wine on the table in the frescoes of the Knight of Celano dedicated to the life of St. Francis.
Since 1540 municipal ordinance officially establishes the date of commencement of harvesting in Montefalco, this tradition continues to this day thanks to the Brotherhood of Sagrantino, in September and curious people gather in the square to read the ancient writing. The cold of winter 1586 was a scourge for the wine-growing plantations of Montefalco, who returned to produce only after several decades. In 1622 Cardinal Boncompagni, legate of Perugia, severely escalated the penalties imposed by the municipal statute, providing for even "the penalty of the gallows if anyone cut the vine of grapes". Calindri the nineteenth century, in his "Essay geographic, historical, statistical territory of the Papal States," cites Montefalco "at the top of the state for its wines." At that time, begin to arrive major awards at the Sagrantino grapes suited to the low productivity. In 1925 the Festival wine of Umbria, the town center is defined as the most important wine region "Montefalco takes first place in the culture of vineyards with an annual average yield of 65 tons of grapes per hectare." Almost disappeared from the vineyards of Umbria in the 60s, was recovered by the efforts of some brave winemakers, resulting in the recognition of Doc 1979, followed in 1992 by the DOCG seal on the long and important tradition.