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| | Islands of Italy Mostly Sicily Sardinia, too.

Sicily has made a modest splash in the wine market over the past 10 to 20 years.
When we were young, the calling card for Sicily was the wine of Marsala and
these were, for the most part, relegated to use in the kitchen. It was a
wine used to deglaze the pan for Veal or Chicken dishes. Or it was used to
make Zabaione.
The name Marsala was bastardized by large California wineries. Today, for
example, Constellation Brands offers cheap, fortified wines called Marsala under
the labels of Cribari, Paul Masson and Taylor (from New York State!).
These have little to do with real Sicilian Marsala, but frugal restaurateurs
provide the largest segment of the market for these wines in the U.S.

For table wines being sold in bottle, the wine called Corvo was perhaps the
"Blue Nun" or "Mouton Cadet" of Sicily. It was a
modest quality wine with an easy-to-pronounce name and a relatively low price.
The owners of that brand are trying to resurrect it today, but it's not on the
radar of most wine consumers.
It's been said that today Sicily makes more wine than all of New Zealand.
This is a remarkable concept. We wonder if many shops carry more wines
from Sicily or more from New Zealand...???
Most of the wine produced in Sicily was sold in bulk to winemakers in cool
climate regions and places where the sun doesn't shine so reliably
brightly. Wine was put into tankers and shipped to less sunny climes where
vino Siciliano could "fortify" other wines.
It's been said, for example, that there was demand in Piemonte for some of the
Nerello Mascalese wines from Etna was purchased in bulk to add to Barolo and
Barbaresco wines.
British wine expert Tim Atkins recently posted an article on Sicily and claims that only
20% of the wine produced there is actually sold in bottles. And Sicily is
maybe the fourth largest wine-producing region in Italy behind Puglia, the
Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.
For the 2016 vintage, we see that 58%
of the wine made in Sicily is white, the other 42% is rosato and red wine.
This is a big change as red production, thanks to Nero d'Avola and Etna Rosso
wines is on the rise.
Information from the 2010 census on Italian grapes shows the plantings of
Cataratto to be down 46% from the 2000 census, while Nero d'Avola jumped by
31%.
But it seems there's less land devoted to vineyards today than, say, 20+ years
ago. Back then there was plenty of "industrial" winemaking and
catering to bulk buyers. These days, thankfully, there are many more artisan,
quality-driven producers and Sicilian wines are quite in vogue these days. 
There was, and is, a large grower's cooperative winery called Settesoli.
It's located about 40 miles east of Marsala and about 40-something miles south
and a bit west of Palermo. The co-op was founded in the 1950s. In
the 1970s the head of the organization was the son of a founding member, Diego
Planeta. He had some brilliant ideas for putting Sicily on the map,
so-to-speak and these included planting "international" grape
varieties to show the world what could be made.

Diego Planeta
Many growers thought Planeta to be out of his mind, but it turns out he was
crazy like a fox. The members of the co-op were encouraged to plant grapes
such as Cabernet and Chardonnay. In doing so, they were shown how these
varieties were cultivated in wine regions with a history of quality production,
something a bit foreign to farmers who grew grapes for quantity and abundant
yields, not for quality fruit.
This ended up changing the face of Sicilian wine production.
Planeta then planted his own vineyards with both international and locally
indigenous varieties. He launched his winery in 1995 and it's grown from a
small sapling into a small forest. They have 370+ hectares of vineyards
and produce north of two million bottles annually. The Planeta Empire is
now comprised of five wineries in various locations and they make some really
good wines.

There's a similar story concerning the famed Rallo family whose roots are in
Marsala. In 1983 Giuseppe and Gabriella Rallo launched the winery called
Donnafugata which is now run by their children, daughter José and son
Antonio. They dabble with international varieties and this brought a lot
of attention to their wines. You'll find they make a Chardonnay and have
some wines incorporating Cabernet, Merlot, Tannat, Petit Verdot and Syrah.
Happily, they do make wines from local varieties, too.
José Rallo has credited their production of international varieties with
bringing world-wide attention to their Donnafugata wines. She has said
this also helped them to better understand their historical grapes, thus
improving the quality of their wines.
Today, by the way, that
Settesoli co-op farms something like 6,000 hectares of vineyards and they make
about 24-million bottles of wine annually! It's the largest winery in
Sicily and we've read that in the area of Menfi, something like 70% of the 5,000
families living there are affiliated in some form or another with this mammoth
wine producer. 

This map highlights just a few of Sicily's wines regions.
Palermo and Catania are two major cities and they both have airports connecting
to Rome and the rest of the world.
As of 2017, though, we found Sicily to still be a bit isolated.
It's not simple getting there from many places in and around Europe.
Rome is a major connection, however.
There are numerous indigenous grapes in Sicily and you can find all sorts of
other "foreign" varieties in the region today.


There
is but one DOCG in Sicily and a bunch of DOC designations.

Just to point out how easy it is to be confused about Sicilian
wine in particular and Italian wine in general, we found this document (October
2017) by an agency which allegedly helps educate the world about vini
Italiani. It's called FEDERDOC and it's an organization representing
approximately 90 Italian wine consortiums. 
The lone DOCG in Sicily is listed at the top of this chart. It's
"Cerasuolo di Vittoria" and you'll notice they have an icon of a wine
glass in the column for "Rosato" or pink wines.
In fact, the DOCG applies solely to red wines which are a blend of Nero d'Avola
and Frappato.
There is no DOCG for a pink wine labeled Cerasuolo di Vittoria.
Perhaps someone creating that document confused "Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo,"
a pink wine made from the Montepulciano grape in the region of Abruzzo.
Sicily has a few grower's consortiums...there's one for Etna and
one for the Cerasuolo di Vittoria. There's one for the wines of Monreale
and other for Sclafani.
The main consorzio of Sicilian wines has a web site that is remarkably
poor. It is merely for wine producers and assists, perhaps, in
administrative issues and dealing with government bureaucracies.
But there is no educational material for consumers.
There's a Wines of Sicilia web site claiming to offer educational material.
On a page called "Meet The Grapes" you won't find a word about Nerello
Mascalese or Nerello Cappuccio. Carricante is missing as well, leading us
to wonder if Etna is actually part of Sicily.
Sicilian table wines, though, are now much more easily found than a decade
ago.
As of this writing (2018), the wines of Etna, made of Nerello Mascalese and
Nerello Cappuccio, have found a following and comparisons with Nebbiolo wines
from Piemonte are made by many. Etna's white wines are certainly worth
exploring, too. The Carricante grape can produce profound and age-worthy
white wine.
The Nero d'Avola wines from southeast Sicily have gained a share of the wine
market here in the San Francisco Bay area and there is quite a range of styles
and prices for those wines.
We had seen an article where someone touted the great Syrah wines from
Sicily. This was certainly news to us, as we love good Syrah. In
researching information about Sicily and its wines, we were surprised to learn
that Syrah is rather widely planted. A number of wineries make it as a
varietal wine and others use it to fortify other reds.
Still, we cannot claim to have tasted an especially profound Syrah from Sicily.
There are wines made of other international grapes. You can find Cabernet
Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. It seems growers
uprooted indigenous varieties in the 1980s and 1990s, hoping to cash in on the
demand for varietal wines. But competing against wines from New World wine
regions such as California, Australia, Chile and Argentina proved to be a
daunting task.
Maybe international varieties are of interest to their home market in Sicily or
Italy, but they have rough waters to navigate with respect to finding a slice of
the consumer "pie" in international markets.
But there are exceptions to every "rule," and we must admit that some
blends of indigenous and international varieties can be quite good. Try a
bottle of Donnafugata's top reds. Mille e una Notte is Nero d'Avola with
Petit Verdot, Syrah and other reds...quite good. Their Tancredi is
Cabernet with Nero d'Avola, Tannat and other reds...also a table-worthy wine.
We
are generally more interested in grape varieties which produce benchmark
Sicilian wines from indigenous grape varieties.

The notion of artisan Marsala can be credited to the late Marco de Bartoli whose
winery makes a range of exceptional wines.
The wines of Etna have become a hot commodity over the past decade and now
"outsiders" are investing in that region, too. Early
"outsiders" were Sicilians and the Cusumano family from western Sicily
and the Planeta family now have wineries in Etna.
Famous wine importer/exporter Marco de Grazia put down roots in Etna back in
2002, or so. He had a vision for this region when most people were blind
to its potential.
Now Piemonte's Angelo Gaja of Barbaresco fame has invested in Etna. One
observer opined "this is either the beginning of the end or the end of the
beginning."
The bottom line on Etna is it's a region that's now producing some wines which
are delicious in their youth and some which will repay cellaring.
There are numerous rather commercial bottlings of the Nero d'Avola grape.
The consumer who's a fan of many a drink-me-now Malbec from Argentina is likely
to find something made of Nero d'Avola to be to their taste. There are
some well-structured bottlings which are a bit more tannic and a bit austere in
their youth.
The DOCG blend of Nero d'Avola and Frappato called "Cerasuolo di
Vittoria" can be quite good. We had thought of these as wines to
drink in their youth. But Alessio Planeta shared a ten year old bottle
with us and this was shockingly good. Giusto Occhipinti opened a 20 year
old bottle and this, too, was remarkable.
Giusto. (Both the man and the wine.)

Alessio Planeta.
The Muscat wines of Pantelleria can be exceptional and there are some delicious
Malvasia wines from Lipari, just off the coast of northeast Sicily.
In Northeast Sicilia you'll find wines of the Faro denominazione and
there are some wines from there worth exploring.
With nearly two dozen denominazione there is much to explore in
Sicily.

Here
are some wines we like:
GRACI
- Alberto Graci's little azienda is situated in Castiglione di Sicilia on
the northern side of the Etna wine region. He's in the Passopisciaro
neighborhood, a damned good address if you're making wine from Nerello
Mascalese and Carricante grapes.
Alberto's grandpa made wine, but not in the Etna region. And in nonno's
day, winemaking was about quantity, not quality.
Graci left Sicily to pursue his studies and not winemaking. After
his time at a university in Rome, he moved to Milan as an investment
banker. When Grandpa died, he came back to Sicily and sold nonno's
place (in central Sicily) and invested the proceeds in a property in
the Etna area.
The winery was founded in 2004 and today it's a highly-regarded estate
with elegant, showy wines. The cellar dates back to the 1860s,
though, with a bit of a remodeling and upgrade.
The Graci properties tally 25 hectares in size, but presently
there are 20 hectares of vineyards planted in three sites.
They have the Contrada Arcurìa and the Contrada Feudo di Mezzo, both in
Passopisciaro. The third site is the Contrada Barbabecchi in Solicchiata,
about 3 kilometers to the east. These vineyards range from 600 to 1100
meters above sea level.
Barbabecchi is a rather old vineyard...planted more than a hundred years ago on
their own roots as the phylloxera root louse has never taken hold there.
Naturally, there's not a large quantity of wine from this site, but it is rather
special. And, like the rest of the Graci vineyards, it's farmed
organically.
Graci, by the way, is viewed by our friend Angelo Gaja as one of the top Etna
wine producers. Gaja, famed for his Piemontese wines (and now a few in
Tuscany), is partnering with Alberto Graci on a new venture in a presently
unheralded southwest Etna vineyard site. They purchased a 21 hectare
property that's planted predominantly to Nerello Mascalese.
Graci told us this part of Etna was, many years ago, viewed as a good quality
location. It's been in the shadows, though, thanks to so many good
wineries in other Etna locales.
We've been fans of the entry-level Etna Rosso, but frankly all the wines are a
delight.

Graci is making some of the most charming and easily-drinkable wines in the Etna
area at this point in time.
We've had his wines in various tasting venues and they are consistently good.
The 2016 Etna Rosso is made entirely of Nerello Mascalese and it is fermented in
cement tanks using indigenous yeasts.
Graci says he employs a long period of skin contact, typically about a month and
yet you won't find his wine to be aggressively tannic. It's rather supple
and elegant on the palate.
We like the sweet, somewhat woodsy bouquet here and yet, remarkably, the wine
predominantly aged in cement. It undergoes a spontaneous malolactic
fermentation in those cement tanks and remains there for about a year and a
half. Earlier vintages did not see wood, but Graci told us a small
percentage is kept in tini, wooden wine vats.
Graci's cellar, by the way, has no French oak barriques.
Once bottled, the Etna Rosso stays in the cellar for but a couple of months and
then it's offered to a most receptive market.
Currently in stock: GRACI 2016 ETNA ROSSO
$26.99
In the old part of the cellar there were some ancient tanks...

We understand the previous owners of this facility used these wooden tanks into
the 1980s...and they are quite old...museum pieces now.
After tasting many exceptional wines, we went out to the
vineyards...

The vineyards are farmed organically.
And this is, as you can see, quite labor intensive.

Alberto and his lovely Mom...
CIRO & STEPHANIE BIONDI
- Ciro Biondi is an architect who didn't have designs on the wine business
until he and his wife Stephanie decided to restore some old family
vineyard sites to their garden-like splendor. In 1999 they embarked
on a wine-growing and winemaking project. At some point they took on
some partners and apparently this did not go so well.
In fact, in 2012 we're told, Biondi had to do some clandestine subterfuge
to rescue some wine which was in danger of spoiling due to neglect.
The partnership was apparently on the rocks and Ciro hired a tanker truck
to make a covert run to make off with the 2010 and 2011 vintages of his
single vineyard "Cisterna Fuori" cru. The wine was, in
fact, saved, but some other lots in that cellar were not
salvageable. The company "details" have been restructured
and today Ciro & Stephanie own the company outright without
entanglements from others.
- Biondi's winery is on the south side of Etna and it comes with a long
and interesting history. Ciro Biondi's grandfather and the
grandfather's brother Salvatore had a grape-growing enterprise back in the
late 1800s. Uncle Sal teamed up with another fellow in the town of
Trecastagni and they made wines branded as "Biondi & Lanzafame."
These actually gained a measure of notoriety when, in 1913 and 1914, they
entered wines in competitions in Paris, Lyon and Casal Monferrato and won
some awards. Their wines even made their way to the United States!
-

An old document they found at the Biondi property tallying up the 1923
harvest.
-
- Here's an image from Stephanie Biondi illustrating the changes the
property has taken over the past few years...

They currently have about 7 hectares of vineyards in three different
locations.
The Contrada Ronzini is planted to white grapes, so you'll find Carricante
there, along with a bit of Cataratto and the rare Minnella. It's the
source of the prestigious "Chianta" white wine.
Ciro confided that this name irks some Tuscan vintners who object to the
name on the grounds it's too similar to their beloved
'Chianti." They will soon change the label to appease
the Tuscan wine producers, but it should be pointed out that
"Chianta" is a Sicilian word for a "plant," with Chianti
in Sicilian being the plural, "plants."

Apparently starting with the 2016 vintage, the label will change
slightly
and the wine will be called "Pianta" which is the Italian word
for "plant" (singular).
Cisterna Fuori is a site planted with the two red grapes,
Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio. It's also the home of the
vinification cellar and a nice little outdoor reception area.

A snapshot of the place in March.

Il professore, Ciro Biondi.

San Nicolò is the smallest vineyard site and it's planted to
Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio which are planted "on their own
roots."
Ciro said he was visited some years ago by Aubert de Villaine,
manager of the prestigious Burgundy winery called Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
Biondi was invited to visit de Villaine's cellar and recalls tasting DRC's
sublime Montrachet and thinking perhaps that he was wasting his time making
white wine.
But Monsieur de Villaine encouraged him to continue his quest for great wines.
Biondi, at first, wondered if he should plant Chardonnay.
"No...we should not! We should make our own unique wines and keep the
inspiration of Burgundy as a model."
And he's taken a page from a Burgundian winemaker's handbook, employing seasoned
oak cooperage for his wines...a bit of skin contact and settling of the
juice...some lees stirring...bottle aging...
In tasting his Carricante called "Chianta" we found the young wine to
be well-made and a bit shy...so Ciro opened a bottle which was a couple of years
older and, eccoci qua! Now you're talkin'!
The wine blossoms nicely, showing depth and elegance. It's not French
white Burgundy...it's Etna Bianco and a good one at that!
Biondi's red wines are quite good, too. They routinely have some grip and
structure, so pairing them with appropriate foods will help show the wines in a
good light.
"Outis" is their entry-level wine in both red and white. The
name is Greek and means "no one" (nessuno in Italian).
There's a bit of Greek mythology associated with the Etna neighborhood and if
you become familiar with the Greek playwright Euripides, you'll know about
wine-drinking and debauchery with respect to Cyclops.
Odysseus had been drinking with the Cyclops known as Polyphemus. Asked his
name, Odysseus says it's "Outis." At one point, Odysseus is
trying to kill Cyclops before he, himself, is killed. Being
attacked, it's Polyphemus who shouts out that "nobody" was trying to
kill him, so, of course, none of the neighbors came to his aid.
Outis is also a sort of term for "anonymous" and it's been used as a
pseudonym by a number of writers and now, it seems, a winemaker.
Ironically you will find that Signor Biondi keeps a relatively low
profile. Unlike most vintners who seek the praise of various wine critics,
Ciro's wines are not seen these past few years in the various Italian wine
guides. Talk about anonymous!
We currently have the 2014 Chianta Etna Bianco in the shop...This is
predominantly Carricante with a bit of Minella and Catarratto. It's still
young, but developing nicely. The initial notes on the nose are
reminiscent of apricot with a touch of pineapple spice notes...minerally and
stony, there's a faintly smoky note to this wine, too. Medium+ in
body...it's not an exuberant wine, but one you can watch evolve in the glass as
it both warms and airs.
-
Currently in stock: BIONDI 2014 "CHIANTA"
ETNA BIANCO $49.99



GIROLAMO RUSSO
- Giuseppe
Russo is another one of the leading lights in the Etna region, having
grown up in the town of Passopisciaro, close to the family vineyards and
his winery.
-

The winery is named after Giuseppe's father who died at an early age
having suffered a heart attack. At that point in time (in the early
2000s), he was confronted with the option of selling dad's vineyards and
pursuing his other endeavors (teaching literature and piano) or becoming a
winemaker.
Lucky for us he chose the latter option and today Signor Russo is regarded
as one of the best producers of Etna wines.
He's continued in his father's footsteps by cultivating the vines
organically.
There are currently about 15 hectares of vineyards and they make a nice
range of wines. Three single vineyard red wines are produced, along
with an entry-level blend, a Rosato and a white wine.
Russo credits Marc de Grazia the famous wine exporter of Terre
Nere winery fame, Andrea Franchetti (of Passopisciaro and Trinoro fame) and
Frank Cornelissen, an outsider who's making a name for himself with
"natural" wines for giving him encouragement and some
guidance.
As with a piece of music, the harmonies one hears will be different depending
upon who's playing the piano. Similarly, wines from the same general
region will have different styles depending upon who's growing the grapes and
making the wines.
Russo's are some of the most harmonious of the northern Etna region.
From the area of Randazzo there's a bottling labeled
"Feudo." From Castiglione di Sicilia there's Feudo di Mezzo. And
there's San Lorenzo, a vineyard site that's also in the Randazzo area.
Russo's main wine is called A'Rina, in honor of his mother we initially
thought. It turns out it's a reference to the sandy soils on Mount Etna.
This is a
blend of fruit from San Lorenzo, Feudo and Calderara Sottana (a vineyard site in
the Randazzo area, noteworthy for its large stones).
This can be an outstanding wine.
The 2018 is especially charming.

We're big fans of the San Lorenzo bottling.
Our first vintage of this was the 2007...now we have the 2015 in stock...there's
something particular about this wine which we like. The red fruit aromas
are enticing and there's usually a suggestion of it having been matured in an
oak barrel. An element of a brown spice note typically emerges as the wine
gets some air.
And it's a wine of finesse.
There's a bit of tannin to the 2015, but it's smoother than a young
Barolo. Still, while this can be enjoyed now, we expect it to be even more
complex with a few years in the bottle.
It's a wine which, if you're in tune with it, is extremely satisfying. We
think it's one of the best of Etna. We have dubbed it "Etna
Russo."

Russo, it turns out, has a good hand with Rosato! It's
made entirely of Nerello Mascalese from some old vines in the Contrada San
Lorenzo region. Fermentation is conducted with indigenous yeasts and
you'll notice the color displayed on the bottle above is quite pale, much like
the pink wines from France's Provence. Russo leaves the skins in contact
with the juice for just a few hours. It's fermented in stainless steel
tanks, bottled young and they've done a marvelous job capturing berries and
spice notes. Bone dry, too. Bravo!
-
Currently in stock: 2018 GIROLAMO RUSSO
"A'RINA" Etna Rosso $37.99
2015 GIROLAMO RUSSO "SAN LORENZO" Etna Rosso $64.99
2020 GIROLAMO RUSSO ROSATO $29.99 (last bottles)
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-
-

This fellow was preparing to help keep the just-cleaned cooperage in
good condition by lighting a sulphur disc. This prevents any little
bit of wine residue in the wood from turning to vinegar.




TASCA D'ALMERITA
- The Tasca family history goes back to about 1830 and today the 8th
Generation runs a modest winemaking empire in Sicilia.
Their first property is the famous Regaleali, a 550 hectare site some 36
miles southeast of Palermo. Some 25 grape varieties are cultivated
there, covering maybe 382 hectares. The Regaleali label has long
been a bit of an ambassador for Sicily, though we can't recall tasting
much in the way of exceptionally profound wine over the years.
Except for one wine called Rosso del Conte.
-

- The Regaleali wines, by the way, were well-marketed in the 1960s or
1970s and it was a fashionable brand, as the name was not too difficult to
pronounce and it carried a label suggesting it was from a smallish
winery. It doesn't seem that they've built on that reputation,
though and we must admit it's been a while since we've tasted the wines,
partly due to their lack of salesmanship and partly our lack of
interest. We really should have a look!
The family owns five estates in an around Sicilia: Regaleali is the
biggest, but they also have Capofaro on the island of Salina.
There's Tenuta Whitaker on the island of Mozia. Sallier de la
Tour is a property near Palermo where they make a special Syrah wine in
the Monreale appellation. The Tenuta Tascante is their Etna project.

-
- The one wine on our radar, though, is called, and get ready for this,
Tasca d'Almerita Contea di Sclafani "Rosso del Conte." For
a red wine of the Contea di Sclafani appellation, the wine must be at
least half Nero d'Avola and/or Perricone. The rest are supposed to
be "other local red varieties." We know they grow all
sorts of international grapes there, including Sangiovese, so it's not
crystal clear what qualifies as "local."
Rosso del Conte is a wine born of the idea of making a blended Sicilian
red modeled, to a small degree, after French blends such as those from
Bordeaux or the Southern Rhône. Except "Conte"
Giuseppe Tasca wanted to use indigenous varieties. They planted a small
parcel with what was intended to be a field blend of Perricone and Nero
d'Avola, but then planted a vineyard devoted exclusively to Nero.
It's typically predominantly Nero d'Avola with a healthy percentage
of Perricone. The rest they describe as other "local
grapes." We have the 2015 presently which may have something
like 20% "other red grapes" but we noticed the 2016 is said to
be solely Nero and Perricone.
The wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks with maybe close to three
week maceration period.
The maturation of the wine has evolved over the years. We understand
they started using Chestnut barrels before switching to Slavonian
oak. These days the wine is matured in French oak as they use Allier
and Tronçais barrels...all new! It's a very elegant red wine
and worthy of grilled or roasted meats. We enjoyed a bottle in
September of 2021 as this was very fine and nicely complex.
The 2015 is showing beautifully now and we expect it will still be quite
good into the 2030s.
-
-
Currently in stock: TASCA D'ALMERITA Contea di
Sclafani 2015 ROSSO DEL CONTE $59.99
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-

The San Lucio vineyard is where the Rosso del Conte is born.
-

FEUDO MONTONI
- They'll tell you the history of this estate can be traced back to 1469,
but frankly, we doubt anyone today was actually alive back then.
Feudo Montoni is a 30 hectare property located about 60 miles southeast of
Palermo. Also, it's a bit more than 70 miles, as the crow flies,
east of Marsala.
-

The Sireci family bought the place in the 1800s and the third generation
is currently at the helm of this organically-farmed vineyard. We're
told they have some old clones of various varieties and Fabio Sireci likes
to make single-vineyard bottlings of his various wines.
Their vineyards are in an isolated locale and you'll find the region
carpeted with fields of wheat, making Montoni a bit of an
"island" thanks to its relative isolation.

They practice organic viticulture and are happy to do so despite needing
more vineyard workers to do so.
The vineyards are planted with typical Sicilian varieties, including
Grillo, Catarratto, Inzolia, Nerello Mascalese and Nero d'Avola, amongst a
few others.
There's a particularly old planting of Nero d'Avola and this produces a
wine of a top reputation (and high price).
We currently have their 2020 Catarratto in stock.

They label each wine, all mono-varietal bottlings, by the vineyard site
from where the grapes are grown.
This Catarratto comes from a patch called "Masso."
They say this a reference to the rocky and sandy soils as "masso"
translates to "boulder" or "rock."
It's got a high content of iron and perhaps this accounts for the special
character of this bone dry white: there's a touch of grapefruit peel
and an almost stony note on the nose and palate.
It was thoroughly delicious with that "zebra" pasta and seafood,
by the way.
-
-
-
Currently in stock: 2020 FEUDO MONTONI
CATARRATTO $21.99
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P.S. Our former colleague Kareasa purchased a
bottle at my suggestion in late Summer of 2022...
A few weeks later she sent a text :


-
PIETRADOLCE
- The Faro brothers started this beautiful Etna winery around the same
time as Russo and Graci (see above). They grew up not far from Etna
as their family has a major plant nursery, Piante Faro, with about 1500
acres of land in Giarre, a short drive north of Catania.
Michele and Mario's dad Venerando Faro founded the nursery and today they
export 5,000 different plants to 60 countries around the world.
In 2005 he ventured about 24 kilometers north and west to the Etna town of
Solicchiata where he found some remarkable terraces with old vines.
Michele describes these old sites not as vineyards but as
"monuments."
-
- Old terraces with head-pruned vines...called "Alberello" as
the vines resemble little trees.
-
- They recently built a beautiful winemaking facility to replace the
ramshackle place they had near the coast as their original winery.
This place is built into the hill and it's a gravity-flow winery.
-
- They were putting the finishing touches on the new winery in early
2017.
-

This is a view on top of the winery...they showcase a lot of the
vegetation one might find in the environs of Etna with shrubs, small trees
and such.

-

In front of the winery they've got a few vines and will add more.


We have been delighted with their normal, classico if you
will, Etna Rosso. At this writing, the 2015 is the current release and we
don't find it to have the charm and complexity of the previous several
vintages.
Nerello Mascalese, like Pinot Noir, tends to be a light-colored
wine but the 2015 seems a bit pale compared to 2014. It's got the color of
a Rosé. The nose is rather shy and the wine is hollow and a bit shrill on
the palate.
We'll wait for the next vintage and evaluate it when it hits the market.
-
Currently in stock: We can special order the
current releases, if you like.



-
CUSUMANO
- This family wine business is rather large and it's run today by Cusumano
brother Diego and Alberto. The main cellar is located less than an
hour by car from Palermo. Their father Francesco was a grape and
wine-broker, so he knew the best places to buy vineyard land.
Now the family has holdings in many parts of Sicily and they make some
solid wines from numerous areas, scattered around Sicilia.
They own more than 550 hectares in 7 or 8 sites and produce more than 2.5
million bottles annually. That's an impressive figure when you
consider the brother's little adventure began just a few years ago, in
2000.
You'll find typical varietals such as Insolia, Catarratto and Nero
d'Avola, but also Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, Cabernet and
Merlot. The wines are usually well-made and of good quality.
Some might criticize some of the wines for being "too
internationally-styled," but one is not obliged to buy Sicilian
Chardonnay, per esempio.
In 2013
they were able to buy an Etna-area vineyard site from the prominent
Benanti family. They started with about 15 hectares on the south
side of Etna and we understand they have purchased another ten hectares on
which they will plant more of the white Carricante grape. At this
moment they own vines on five different Etna sites, including Guardiola,
Feudo di Mezzo, Pietramarina, Solicchiata and Verzella.
-
- We've been fans of their Alta Mora Etna Bianco.
The 2014 was exceptionally good...the 2015 is perhaps slightly less
complex, but we ought to open a bottle to see how it's progressing...The
2019 is in stock presently and it's as "electric" have been most
of the previous vintages. Beautifully acidic and full of personality!
These are made entirely of Carricante, vinified in stainless steel tanks
and left on the spent yeast for approximately 4 months. We find some
faintly citrusy tones with a hint of pear. Maybe there's a touch of
thyme lurking in the background of this dry, medium-bodied white.
It is one of the most popular white wines in the shop! People buy a
bottle to try and then it's not uncommon for them to come back and get 6
or 12 more!
-
-
-
Currently in stock: 2019 ALTA MORA Etna Bianco $34.99
-
- We visited their western Sicilia winemaking facility in the town of
Partinico, a short drive from Palermo.
-

Impressive cellars.

Small oak barriques and large wooden vats.

The bottling line is impressive.

Many bottles are sealed with a glass closure.


-
-

Interesting art...
-
-
-

A private area for tasting...notice the papers hanging in the lights...
-


"Love notes" from admirers and business partners...

Degustazione!




-
RIOFAVARA
- Massimo Padova's family has been growing grapes in southeast Sicilia's
"Val di Noto" region for more
than a hundred years, but it's
only in the 1980s that they began vinifying their fruit and then it took
them until the 1990s to start bottling wine. Some things simply take
time.
This vineyard and cellar (they also have three rooms if you want to book a
stay at this place) are in south-east Sicily, an area highly regarded for
the Nero d'Avola grape. In fact, they are less than 15 miles from
the town of Avola.
Massimo's great grandfather started the place and cultivated all sorts of
crops, not solely grapes. Even today they grow wheat and olives in
addition to their winemaking work.
The vines are trained in two different systems. They employ the cordone
speronato method (cordon) and alberello (an old-fashioned
bush-vine or "head-pruned" method). Massimo says he likes
having both types of vines. They are planting more vineyard sites
and expect to cultivate about 26 hectares in a few years. Currently,
as of 2020, they have 16+ hectares in production.
-

A soon-to-be-planted vineyard site.

Massimo is very proud of their vineyard work.
- The vines are all cultivated organically. Padova was one of the
first to embrace organic farming in the region and, we understand, they
rejected one of the government agencies that certifies farms and vineyards
as "organic" as their criteria were too lax! The vineyards
do have some sort of certification but from an organization that actually
has higher standard.
Riofavara
makes a simple white wine blend of Inzolia, Grecanico and one other white
grape. My notebook indicates Moscato accounts for about 10% of the
blend, though I don't find a fruity note here of Muscat. The winery
web site indicates there's Chardonnay in the blend.
They make a dry Moscato which had 5% of other white grapes, but this
doesn't show the aromatics of classic Muscat.
Of greater interest is their "Eloro" red wine (that's the DOC)
called Spaccaforno. They have three vineyard sites in both Eloro and
Noto. Massimo explained they hand-harvest all their vineyards and
the fruit is destemmed before the fermentation.
Indigenous yeast. Cement vats for the fermentation.
The wine goes into wood for a brief time, maybe 6 months. The
cooperage is typically of second and third usage with but a tiny
percentage of new wood. Padova is proud of their vineyard work and
wants to highlight that rather than showcase an oak barrel. The wine
is unfiltered, by the way.
You can sense the ripe fruit in the wine and it's different from those
made by big, commercial cellars.
We don't view this as a wine needing more cellaring...the 2015 is showing
well now and while it will continue to be in good form for a few years,
it's not likely to develop additional complexity with time. But we
may be wrong on this count.
-
Currently in stock: RIOFAVARA Eloro
"Spaccaforno" 2015 NERO D'AVOLA $21.99

Massimo Padova




Good winemaker. Good wine.



-
COS
- COS is viewed by many as both a leading naturalista
winery and one of the classic producers of Nero d'Avola and the Nero
d'Avola/Frappato blend called Cerasuolo di Vittoria.
-

The winery name comes from the initials of the founding partners,
Giambattista Cilia, Giusto Occhipinti and Cirino Strano. Cilia-Occhipinti-Strano=COS
Strange that Strano departed and these days it's Cilia and Occhipinti
running the CO.

Giusto Occhipinti is the face of the winery.
-
The winery was founded in 1980 using the old Cilia family cellar with
three hectares of vineyards. Today the COS winery farms 36
hectares and makes approximately 200,000 bottles of wine annually.
-

As you can see, the soils are not treated with chemical weed
killers.
They work the vineyards using biodynamic practices.
-
- We visited in early Spring and saw this crew manually working the
soil...
-

The tractor then was used to work the soil or tame the weeds in the
middle of the row.
- The original cellar had wooden vats and barrels but
around the turn of the century they acquired terracotta amphorae and these
are now in place. It seems they were enchanted by seeing these being
used by winemakers in Georgia where kvevri or qvevri (as
they're called).
-
-
- You can see the insides of these are stained...

We have wondered about the effects of this on the juice of the fermenting
wine.

There are other tanks for fermenting and aging their wines.
Giusto lamented those who think Sicily is the
home of "big wines."
"This," he says, "is simply not true."
And he added "We have a great range of wines in a relatively small place.
We have lots of different grapes."
Continuing on the theme of variety, Occhipinti explained "Arabs, French,
Normans, Phoenicians and the Spanish, etc., have all left their mark on
Sicily. We need to celebrate this diversity."
COS, as noted, began in the early 1980s.
Giusto told us "In the 1960s and 1970s, winemakers were taught to watch the
cellars. Curiously they were not schooled to pay attention to the
vineyards. We pay attention to both."
With respect to the various wines they've made, Occhipinti continued his
philosophical speech saying "A wine from a single harvest is really a diary
of the year. It tells a story of what happened during that growing season,
from start to finish. The winemaker simply showcases it in the
bottle."

COS uses a proprietary wine bottle for its wines, another distinction.



The two partners, Giusto Occhipinti and Giambattista (Si)Cilia.
We tasted a recent vintage of Cerasuolo and the wine showed itself as somewhat
along the lines of a French Burgundy with earthy, cherry fruit and some
forest-floor tones.
They were kind enough to open a 20 year old bottle of their Cerasuolo di
Vittoria.
The 1997 was entirely different, though it had a lightly brickish color but with
fragrances that were more Bordeaux-like. Tobacco was a dominant fragrance
and it was a bit like a mix of Barolo and Bordeaux.
Old and mature on the nose and with a light streak of tannin down the middle.
Back home we bought a few bottles of the COS distributor and
found the wines to be quite distinctive.
COS has a new importer in our area and we tasted the 2016 Cerasuolo which showed
nicely.
-
Currently in stock: COS 2016 CERASUOLO DI VITTORIA (Nero
d'Avola/Frappato) $29.99
- Watch this space...



-
DONNAFUGATA
- The Rallo name is well-known in the region of Marsala. But this
branch of the Rallo family became disenchanted with Marsala and they do
not produce Marsala.
In the early 1980s the Rallos founded a brand called Donnafugata, named
after a woman who had sought refuge in Sicily in the novel Gattopardo by
Tomasi di Lampedusa. The donna in fuga (a woman seeking
refuge or on the run) is the inspiration for the brand name.
These days the place is run by Josè Rallo and her brother Antonio.
They have four winemaking facilities, including an important product
facility off of Sicily on the island of Pantelleria where they make an
amazingly good sweet wine called Ben Ryé. Aside from
vineyards on Pantelleria, their table wines are sourced from an area
called Contessa Entellina, some 41 miles east of their Marsala-area
facility. The family recently purchased soe property in the Etna
area, too.
-
- Some international grape varieties were planted in order to validate the
local grapes and to attract some attention to the winery.
And they make reliably good wines, though some of the entry-level bottles
are, well, entry-level quality.


We have access to many of their wines.
Of course, the Ben Ryé
wine from Pantelleria is in stock.

Sedàra is a blended red based on Nero d'Avola but including Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot, Syrah and other varieties.
Their Nero d'Avola called Sherazade is a pleasant take, if a bit simple.
No oak.
Tancredi is a serious red with Cabernet Sauvignon, Nero d'Avola, Tannat and
another few reds. This comes from several sites and so it
carries a fairly generic appellation. It's matured in French oak for a bit more
than a year. Now you're talking! We currently have some
bottles of the 2017...very fine. Dark fruit and cedary wood notes.
Got steak?
The Nero d'Avola called Mille e Una Notte is blended with a bit of Petit Verdot,
Syrah and maybe other reds. It's matured in French oak and is one of the
best internationally-styled Sicilian reds.
Let us know what you'd like and we will get them for you!
Currently in stock: BEN RYÉ 2016 $44.99
(375ml)
2017 TANCREDI $45.99






-

-
-
ANTICA TENUTA DEL NANFRO
The
town of Caltagirone is actually rather well-known, but not so much for wine
as for ceramics.
-
But there's some good wine made just outside the town and it's at the winery
of the Lo Certo brothers, the Antica Tenuta del Nanfro. This winery is
located a little more than an hours' drive west of Catania and 2 hours from
Mount Etna.
-
- They have about 30 hectares on which they culivate grapes and olives.
The vineyards are cultivated with care and are said to be farmed according
to biodynamic principles.
By the way, they now have a few rooms for visitors.
CLICK
HERE for a link to their web site for rooms.





Nanfro's cellar is simple and well-maintained.


Concetto Lo Certo...
"Want to taste Nanfro wine?"
CERTO!

-
The Frappato grape isn't one with which most wine drinkers are
familiar.
It's made on its own, of course, but also turns up in blends as it's nicely
aromatic and adds a point of balance and finesse to bigger reds. The
famous Cerasuolo di Vittoria is Sicily's lone DOCG-designated wine and it's
a blend of Nero d'Avola and Frappato.
The Nanfro label has a really good example of Frappato...nice raspberry and
cherry notes in a medium-light bodied red wine. The 2015 seemed to
show a piney or resiny tone, as well.
This is ideally served
at cool cellar temperature, so we pop a bottle in the 'frigo for 40 minutes
to an hour.
-
- It's not oak aged and some people describe this sort of wine as Sicily's
Beaujolais. Nanfro's is not wood aged and, typical of this variety,
it's nicely acidic. This makes Frappato a nice choice to pair with
seafood pastas (tomato sauced prawns/calamari are a delight) or mildly
seasoned chicken or pork dishes.

-
- Currently in stock: NANFRO 2015 FRAPPATO Sold Out
POST SCRIPT: I was visiting some winemaker
friends in Northern Italy and one of them was 'testing' me. He asked
if I knew Ravignan in Armagnac.
Yes.
How about Nanfro's Frappato?
Yes.
"Damn, you know all the best secrets!"
*************************************************************************
A few California winemakers call to have me select
some off-beat wines for them to explore. One called the other day
raving about Nanfro Frappato.
"Man, you have to send me some more of that!" he exclaimed.
And we did.


-
PAOLO CALI
- Paolo Cali is actually "Doctor Paolo Cali," a pharmacist in
"real life." His passion, however, is viticulture
and winemaking.
-
-
Paolo's father was also a pharmacist and the family has had some vines in
Vittoria in southeast Sicily. The family has owned this dating back
to the 1700s.
They have three vineyard sites of note: Pruvuletta, Niscia and
Forfice. They are just a few miles from the sea and the soils are
rather sandy for the most part.
Cali says many visitors like to walk barefoot through the vineyards.
-

His father gave him the family property in 2001, the Contrada
Salmé. Paolo has been planting vineyards ever since, apparently, and
today they have about 15 hectares. The first wine cellar in this
modern saga was used in 2004 and they could vinify and store the wines. A
year later they decided to incorporate a bottling machine which is housed
next to the main cellar.
-

The grapes are picked and chilled for 24 hours before processing in
stainless steel, temperature-controlled tanks. They employ
indigenous yeasts, by the way and the vineyards are farmed organically.
-
-
-
-
Cali is a big music fan and has names for his wines such as
"Blues," "Jazz" and "Violino."
He mentioned admiring a young, local jazz musician named Francesco Cafiso
who plays alto saxophone. Cafiso was born only a couple of years
before Cali took over the family vineyard properties...
-
We currently have a 2019 Nero d'Avola from Cali under the name
"Violino."
It's made entirely of Nero and Cali suggests pairing this with a music by
Johann Sebastian Bach.
It's Partita No. 3, BWV 1006.
(CLICK
HERE TO HEAR THAT)
Better drink quickly, though as this
piece takes but 20 minutes to play.
We noticed the new bottling no longer has this musical suggestion on the
label, though.
While this is certainly a nice pairing, might we suggest matching a bottle
of Cali's Nero with roasted chicken, grilled pork chops or a rack of
lamb? You can play whatever music you like, frankly. We found
the piano stylings of Joyce Cooling worked nicely as did some Pat Metheny
tunes. Some samba tunes by Michael Franks seemed to pair nicely as
did some
classical music by Smetana.
The wine is about the weight of a Pinot Noir and fairly gentle and it's
drinkable now...no aging required.
It's one of our favorite Sicilian reds as the wine is top quality and well-priced.

The 2017 vintage of "Jazz" is also delicious and beautifully balanced
for immediate drinking.
This is a blend of Frappato and Nero d'Avola, a wine that carries a modest denominazione,
though it's essentially comparable to a good Cerasuolo di Vittoria.
The current DOCG regulations mandate a minimum of 50% to 70% Nero d'Avola and
the rest is Frappato. This wine from Cali, though, is not labeled as a
DOCG Cerasuolo because they reverse the percentage of the grapes, using more
Frappato and less Nero d'Avola.
They leave some bunches of the Nero d'Avola on the vine to dehydrate a bit in
hopes of adding a measure of additional complexity and the wine is quite good
and well-priced. No oak, though...
Medium bodied...nice red fruit notes...a shade more exuberant than the Violino
(but both wines are quite good and well-priced).
-
-
Currently in stock: 2019 PAOLO CALI
"VIOLINO" NERO D'AVOLA $22.99
2017 PAOLO CALI "JAZZ" $19.99 (Sold Out Presently)


-
PLANETA
The
Planeta family claims 5 centuries of history, tallying to something like
17 generations.
As noted elsewhere on this web page, Diego Planeta assumed the helm of a
large Sicilian co-op winery in the 1970s and changed the course of wine
growing and winemaking on the island.
He was quite a visionary and today the next generation is running a
family-operated company comprised of 5 wine estates around Sicilia.
Today you'll meet Francesca, Alessio or Santi Planeta who run this
impressive show.
People have likened the Planeta family to Napa's Mondavi clan. There
are some similarities, to be sure, as both are pioneers.
Robert Mondavi had the idea of improving wine quality and this had a major
impact not solely for his family, but for his neighbors. The
Planetas, similarly, have led the way in Sicilian viticulture, winemaking
and marketing. We have heard some Sicilian producers credit the
Planeta family with leading the way for them to be in the wine business,
period. And the Planeta wines set a good standard, constantly
raising the bar.
Mondavi, of course, began in Napa making premium wines. As the
business grew, they expanded their holdings with vineyards in other wine
regions. The Planeta family began on an unplanted site called Ulmo
near the lago Arancio, about a 30 minute drive eat of Menfi and one hour
south of Palermo.
Diego Planeta proposed this to his nephew Alessio in the mid-1980s and
they soon planted 50 hectares of vineyards. And the work and
exploration has continued ever since.
They researched Sicilian history and grape-growing, planting old,
indigenous varieties and brought in some international vines, as
well. Planeta brought in a globe-trotting Piemontese winemaker,
Carlo Corino, to help advise them on winemaking.
From their relatively modest beginning, they ventured to other parts of
Sicily, setting up shop in Vittoria, Noto, Etna and, most recently, Capo
Milazzo. This last or most recent site is a great example of
pioneering grape growing by going "back to the future."
It's a vineyard (and olive grove) place that's about 17 miles northwest of
Messina with a view towards the Lipari Islands.
There they've planted Nero d'Avola and Nocera, but are also playing with
some ancient and obscure varieties such as Catanese Nera, Lucignola and
Vitraruolo.
With contemporary packing and modern wines, Planeta's wines have been a
terrific ambassador for Sicily. More than one Sicilian vintner has
told us they would not be in the wine business with their own brands were
it not for Planeta.
"They put Sicilia on the map." we've been told.
With numerous wineries in well-chosen sites across Sicily, Planeta range
of wines is impressive.
They farm "sustainably," by the way.
We've typically found the wines to be quite good and the range of
bottlings is impressive.
There's Nero d'Avola, of course and Nerello Mascalese from Etna.
Their Cerasuolo di Vittoria is routinely very fine (and it turns out these
can age handsomely. An old vintage opened for us by Alessio Planeta
was a surprise!).
The planted the Fiano grape, a variety typically found in Campania.
There's Syrah. They make a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and
Cabernet Franc (called Burdese). They even dabble in
Riesling.
Sparkling wine? Yes! Made of Carricante from the Etna
area...quite good, too.
And there's Moscato in dry and sweet formats.
-

We currently have a rather showy 2016 vintage of Nero d'Avola from the
Noto area, quite close to the town of Avola. You'd be in the southeast
part of Sicily if you visit this region.
The red grape of this location is the Nero d'Avola and they do cultivate
Moscato there, as well.
It is a medium+/medium-full bodied red wine with some dark fruit
notes and a touch of a citrus peel spice tone. Despite being fairly
big and nicely intense, there's elegance and refinement here.
We like the bit of blackberry and dark cherry here, backed by a touch of
oak (French, we're told).
It's showing well presently and should continue to be good for maybe
another 5 to 8 years.
The Planeta family suggests pairing this with spicy Pork dishes or some
sort of fish such as Salmon or Tuna.
-

The 2019 Cerasuolo di Vittoria hits the mark.
It's a typical blend of 60% Nero d'Avola and 40% Frappato.
Lots of bright red fruit notes and there's no oak that we can sense.
Medium-bodied and a good match with red meats, pizza, etc., but also
roasted chicken, grilled salmon or seared tuna.
It will last several years, but not likely develop additional complexity,
so drink up.








-
Currently in stock: 2015 PLANETA "COMETA"
FIANO Sold Out
2016 PLANETA "SANTA CECILIA" NERO D'AVOLA
SALE $44.99
2019 CERASUOLO DI VITTORIA SALE $24.99


-
TENUTA DELLE TERRE NERE

One of the real pioneers in the world of Italian wine is a fellow we met
in the 1980s.
His name was Marco de Grazia back when we first met him.
Today he's "Marc de Grazia" and he fancies himself to be some
sort of Italian vigneron having established a production of wine on
the slopes of Mount Etna.
Back in 1980 he was representing maybe a half a dozen wineries from
Italy. He had importers and distributors around the US and he would
make a tour to promote the little producers whose wineries he represented.
Over the years this business expanded considerably and these days Marc and
his brother Iano (as in Sebastiano) deal with more than 5 dozen
estates.
De Grazia had some of the top artisan winemakers in his portfolio,
representing great winemakers from Piemonte such as Luciano Sandrone, Elio
Altare and (the now late) Domenico Clerico. He encourage these
modernistas to break from the traditional winemaking practices and
embrace, amongst other things, French oak barrels.
It was remarkable to see the changes in the style of wine many of De
Grazia's wineries employed. Back in the "old days,"
Piemontese wines were really hard as nails. By changing the
maceration of the skins during the fermentation and using small oak
instead of large botte grande his stable of Piemontese wineries was
turning out showy wines which were approachable earlier than their old
school brethren.
We found, though, while his wines from Piemonte were perhaps better
balanced, many of his Tuscan producers were then making fierce
Sangiovese-based wines.
In the early 2000s, de Grazia found another challenge...not merely
advising winemakers what to do to make their wines more appealing to the
consumer, but to taking the plunge and actually making his own wines.
But he did not set up shop in the backyard of any of his
producers.
Instead he took on the challenge of making wine from vineyards on the
slopes of the active volcano, Mount Etna.
The vineyard land was relatively sensibly-priced and he could make wine in
an area where there was, at that moment, untapped potential.
In fact, in the late 1990s, wine from Etna was a curiosity and not
something worthy of the connoisseur market.
So De Grazia first vinified Nerello Mascalese from recently-purchased
vineyard under the brand name of Tenuta delle Terre Nere, the estate of
black soils.
We recall tasting early vintages and found many of these to be styled
along the lines of the old school Piemontese wines made of Nebbiolo.
The entry level bottling of Etna Rosso struck us as the most
consumer-friendly wine. And tasting through the various wines being
made at Terre Nere today, we find the single vineyard wines to be quite
promising, but they are usually released much younger than they should
be.

The Terre Nere estate comprises some 30 hectares of vineyards in 2018
and it includes some very old, pre-phylloxera parcels.
-
-


We currently have the 2018 TERRE NERE Etna Rosso in stock...as
noted previously, this is intended for immediate consumption and it's showing
beautifully in its youth.
Grapes from numerous vineyard sites are incorporated into this. It's said
to be 95% Nerello Mascalese and 5% Nerello Cappuccio. The grapes come from
parcels planted in 1967 and 2012.
It's a medium-bodied red and a good introduction to Etna reds.
We suggest serving this at cool cellar temperature.

The 2015 single vineyard bottling of Calderara Sottana is a wine
for cellaring.
The Nerello Mascalese comes from vineyards planted in 1917, 1963 and 1967.
There's maybe 2% of Nerello Cappuccio and those vines are from 1917 and 1967. The
wine is matured in a variety of wood: barriques, tonneaux and large casks.
Only 20% of the wood is new and there's a firm backbone of tannin and acid here.
If you're going to drink this presently, we suggest splashing it around in a
decanter for an hour, or so.
Currently in stock: 2018 TERRE NERE ETNA
ROSSO $23.99
2015 TERRE NERE "CALDERARA SOTTANA" ETNA ROSSO Sold Out


-
VALLE DELL'ACATE

This
modest-sized enterprise is the work of two families, the Jaconos (who
started making wine in the late 1800s) and the Ferreris (who came on board
in the early 1980s).
The place is located in the Valle del Dirillo near the town of Acate...34
kilometers, roughly, from Ragusa.
Gaetana Jacono is the face of the winery these days and Francesco Ferreri
also plays a major role in running the place.
The winery is locked behind a walled compound and it appears to be some
sort of warehouse design.
-

- Those nice stone buildings may have been a winery or agricultural
facility at one time. These days one of the buildings houses old
farm and winery equipment and it's a bit of a museum.
They also host weddings and other events, serving, of course, the Valle
dell'Acate wines.
-

- The day we visited there was a wedding and the band they had serenading
the party-goers played 1950s American rock tunes!



Francesco Ferreri
There is some river in the region called Acate or Achates and
it's said that Pliny the Elder agreed with the Greek expert Theophrastus that
the stones called Agate came from this river. We are not sure if this adds
to the supposed terroir of the wines from this region.
In the modern era, the first wine was bottled in the early 1990s and the US was
their first customer. Today Valle dell'Acate wines are sold in Canada,
Brazil, Japan, China, Australia and in various European markets.
The estate comprises something like 110 hectares and they make maybe a half a
million bottles we're told. In 2001 they built their barricaia
for the oak cooperage of which you'll find barriques, tonneaux and large
vats. Francesco told us "We don't want too much wood on the wines and
typically emply the oak for Chardonnay and a part of the Nero d'Avola
production."
We should note that, in our view, their "Bidis" Chardonnay usually has
more wood than you can shake a stick at...Lots of coconut tones and they have a
good following for that wine.
The Frappato here is often quite good.
Cerasuolo di
Vittoria is also pretty good, too and we have the 2015 in stock.
This is a nice, smooth blend featuring Nero d'Avola and Frappato. It's
typically 60% Nero with 40% Frappato.
Aging in seasoned cooperage smoothes the tannins, but doesn't add oak to the
wine.
They make a wine called "Il Moro"
that's Nero d'Avola in stainless steel...Syrah is a work in progress, but
heading in the right direction. Tané is a powerful, ripe version of Nero
d'Avola and it sees about a year in French oak. The wood is certainly
prominent but the fruit seems up to the task of balancing.
They sometimes offer a Limited Edition bottling of Il Moro, a rather woody
version of Nero d'Avola.
We
usually have had their Case Ibidini Nero d'Avola in the shop. This wine
sees no oak and it's vinified to be drinkable in its youth.
We suggest serving it lightly chilled, as the wine doesn't have much in the way
of tannin.
The wine is an easily drinkable, simple style of Nero...medium bodied.
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Currently in stock: CASE IBIDINI NERO D'AVOLA SALE $14.99
VALLE DELL'ACATE 2015 CERASUOLO DI VITTORIA $26.99
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The old winery facility is now a sort of museum and a party venue.








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GULFI
The
Gulfi winery was powered by the late Vito Catania, who passed away in May
of 2017.
Vito's Pop, Raffaele, uprooted the family after World War II and took them
to Paris...And the family moved back to Sicily when Vito was 20 years of
age, so he had a chance to appreciate the wines of France.
Catania worked in Milano and had some sort of business selling lubricants
for machinery...his background was chemistry but he always loved wine.
He teamed up with a prominent enologist; a fellow named Salvo
Foti.
Foti is generally well-respected though he's apparently a bit demanding
and some say "difficult."
But there's no denying Foti has helped put the Gulfi winery in the map.
They started in the mid-1990s with vines around the winery. That's
in the provincia of Ragusa in Chiaramonte Gulfi. It's within
the delimited area for the wine called Cerasuolo di Vittoria. There
they grow Nero d'Avola and Frappato.
Vittoria, by the way, was the Duchess Victoria Hernandez. She helped
develop the region and the town that bears her name. The first
settlers there were given a hectare of land provided they planted
grapevines.
Gulfi is on the Iblei hillside...so their microclimate is different from
those nearer to Vittoria where the land is more flat.
We were told the first vintage was 2000 and in 2009 they added a hotel and
fancy restaurant.
Foti pushed for them to invest in vineyard land in the Pachino area,
southeast of the winery where they have four contrade or vineyard
sites.
And being a fanatic for the vines and wines of Etna (to the north). Foti
got the Catania family to invest in vineyards. Nerello Mascalese for
their Etna wine but they also planted some Pinot Noir there.
- Today Gulfi comprises close to 70 hectares of vineyards in its several
vineyard areas.
An expert in the lands of Pachino guided them to some interesting
sites.
Mateo Catania explains that the grape varieties are not shown on bottles
of Chianti Classico or Barolo and so they choose to call these special
Nero d'Avola wines with names such as Maccarj, Bufaleffj, Baronj and
Sanloré. The idea is, as you might imagine, to showcase the
vineyard site as they feel each produces a decidedly different Nero
d'Avola.
We tasted through the range of wines and they are all good. Each
"level" is spot on.
The Cerasuolo is typically a 50/50 blend of Nero d'Avola and
Frappato. The law requires at least 50% of Nero and no more than
70%, so each winemaker has a bit of leeway in creating their own 'recipe.'
The various "cru" wines of Nero d'Avola are also
impressive.
The Baronj comes from chalky soils and is quite elegant...lovely aromatics
and moderately tannic.
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Traffic Jam near Etna


That's Etna blowing off some gas in the background.

A gelateria in Catania.









In Palermo one Sunday afternoon.

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