of the boot, that is. Three wines from Sicily, notes below.
About a month ago I went to a tasting of Italian and French wines, mostly new vintages. It went pretty well getting through the 20 or so whites being poured. I had a tougher time with the reds. After a few young Cab Francs and Syrahs, the tannins started to wear down my palate. Sniff, swirl, spit, repeat. This started to feel more like work than fun.
Half way through the reds, 2 wines were poured from Arianne Occhipinti. These were very different than the Cabs and Syrahs preceding. Lighter in color, very aromatic, edgy acidity, and negligible tannins, at least compared to the previous wines. They seemed to revive my mouth and interesting enough to buy a bottle of each and try at home, with food and over several hours to see what happens.
2005 Arianne Occhipinti Frappato Etna Il Frappato
I am pretty sure this is 100% Frappato and not a blend. The Cerasuolo di Vittoria is usually a blend of Frappato and Nero d'Avola. Delicious and completely unspoofalated. Dark red, translucent, lots of things going in in the nose, spices (gets some clove with a lot of air), flowers, red fruits and a wet rock minerality. Acidic red cranberry, tart strawberry fruit in the mouth, soft tannins. Medium body at the most. 12.5% abv. It is very ready to drink now and may develop some more in the cellar, but who knows. Very good with fresh tomato, garlic, basil and dried red pepper sauce and pasta. Special and well worth the $26.
I tried a second bottle a few weeks later was also very good. It starts very tart and delicate, but fleshes out and loses a little of the acidic edge with air. My wife thought there was a hint of Brett but I'm not sure. The Frappato, with its red fruits, minerals, delicacy, and acidic structure resembled something from Burgundy.
2005 Occhipinti Nero d'Avola Siccagno Sicilia IGT
100% Nero d'Avola. I have tried some Nero D'Avola wines in the past that I didn't like too much. They could be over ripe with prune flavors, monolithic or with too much alcoholic heat. This was much better and more elegant. It opens with a spice box nose, chipped rock minerals, some dark fruit, bigger structure and tannins than the delicate Frappato. This also has lively acidity and was great with food. A duck breast with sauteed mushrooms on night one was a good match and also tasted very good with a grilled steak on the second night. The wine improved a bit on the second day. Both wines are full of character and transparent. I think this has more aging potential than the Frappato, but the Frappato is my favorite for drinking right now.
Yesterday I found a bottle of Cerasuolo di Vittoria which is a blend of the two grapes that Arianne Occhipinti bottles separately. We drank a glass with a hearty pasta e fagioli.
2004 Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo di Vittoria
Lovely wine. 60% Nero d'Avola and 40% Frappato. Aromatic and medium bodied. Fresh and a little grapey initially, then develops some earth and mineral tones. Mix of dark sour cherry and strawberry fruit, bright acidity and soft tannins. Nice match with the food. No overt new oak flavors. Would buy again.
All three were around $27-29, and 13% abv or less.
Here is a link to an interesting article on what is happening with winemaking in Sicily.
http://www.thewinenews.com/octnov05/cover.asp
Best,
Marc