Federal Wine Line August 3 - 8 2009

This Week’s Tasting: Wed 8/5 Wines From Sicily
Last Week: A Pot Pourri
Nest Week; House Wines for The Cape or Your Deck
Good Deals: Globe Plonk Picks
Wines We Loved:
2007 Mitolo Savitar Shiraz

This Week’s Tasting
Wednesday, August 5 5:00 - 7:00
Wines of Sicily

Classical Greeks and Romans counted the wines of Sicily among the finest in their world. In the last century growers exploited the island’s warm climate and fertility to make vast quantities of rich bulk wine that fattened up fine French, Spanish or Italian wine in leaner vintages.
More recently a ton of new investment in Sicilian wineries has returned it to high quality production. One of the leaders in this regard was Count Giuseppe Tasca who emphasized quality and innovation at his Tasca d’Almerita estate in the mountains a ways east of Palermo. Now the wines are all estate grown and very high quality. We will include two wines from Tasca tonight.
Duca di Salaparuta is in Castedaccia, just outside Palermo on the north coast. Their white 2007 Corvo Terre Dei Grillo, named for its grape variety, is very interesting, both full bodied and crisp. The Tasca d’Almerita 2008 Le Rose di Regaliali is a very pleasant dry rosato made 100% with Sicily’s Pinot-like Nerello Mascalese grape.The wine is named after the more than 100 varieties of beautiful roses grown on the estate.
Nero d’Avola is Sicily’s best known red grape variety. We’ll taste two examples of Nero d’Avola that are in blends and one that is 100% Nero d’Avola.
Vittoria in southeast Sicily was awarded the island’s first DOC in 1973. This was upgraded to the higher ‘quality guaranteed’ DOCG in 2005. Every DOCG in Italy has a consortium of growers. Francesco Ferrari, the managing director of Valle dell Acate in Contratta Bidini is the he head of the Vittoria Consorzio. His 2006 Valle dell Acate Cerasuolo di Vittoria is a splendid example of this type of wine. It is a blend of Nero d’Avola, with Frappato to add aroma and spice.
The dynamic Cusumano winery in Partinoco on the southwest coast is known the world over for dedication to quality. Owner Diego Cusumano is one of very few Italian producers who can convince me to buy a wine with a portion of non-Italian grapes. The 2007 Cusumano Benuara blends Nero d’Avola and Syrah in a wine slightly richer than the Cerasuolo but with the same balance of fruit and spice.
At Tasca d’Almerita Giuseppe Tasca makes a very distinct, high quality single vineyard Nero d’Avola. The 2005 Tasca d’Almerita Lamuri shows his dedication in this very rich, well balanced wine with an attractive old vine texture.
Dessert will be a great value wine from the island of Pantelleria, an island about 60 miles to Sicily’s southwest. It is the top of an underwater caldera, thus with volcanic soil. Winemakers air-dry Zibbibo, a special clone of Moscato, to make this wine. The 2007 Pellegrino Passito di Panttelleria is a fruity, elegant and lightly spicy dessert wine.

White

2007 Corvo Terre Dei Grillo: Bright gold yellow. Citric lemon-lime with a note of wildflowers, accented with honey and almond. Full-bodied and ripe, flavors are consistent with the nose, crisp and pleasantly acidic. A touch of subtle minerality with citrus and delicate almond in a long finish. Very Good Plus 12.99/bottle 11.69/mixed case 11.04/case

Rose

2008 Regaliali Rosato: Bright, deep, intense pink. Bold fruit aromas of cherry, raspberry and other wild berries. Rich, persistent flavors and clean finish. Very Good Plus 12.99/bottle 11.69/mixed case 11.04/case

Red

2006 Valle dell Acate Cerasuolo di Vittoria: Deep ruby. Red and black fruit aromas with a whiff of roses. Rich, complex flavors with velvet tannins and a spice note. Long, balanced finish. Very Good Plus 21.99/bottle 19.70/mixed case 18.69/case

2007 Cusumano Benuara: Rich ruby red. Red and black fruit aromas, touch of black pepper. Full bodied and complex fruit and spice flavors. Long finish. Very Good Plus 19.99/bottle 17.99/mixed case 16.99/case

2005 Tasca d’Almerita Lamuri: Deep ruby red. Intense fruit, floral and spice aromas. Very rich and forward flavors with good balancing soft tannin and acidity. Rich, long textured finish. Very Good Plus 24.99/bottle 22.49/mixed case 21.24/case

Sweet

2007 Pelligrini Passito di Pantellaria: Deep yellow gold. Rich aromas of orange blossom and raisin. Rich apricot, tangerine flavors with notes of cardamom. Sweet and mouth coating finish with refreshing acidity. Very Good Plus 16.99/bottle 15.29/mixed case 14.44/case

8/5 Sicilian Mixed Case: Two bottles of each of the above for a special price of $187