Recent TNs for Sicilian wines

Until recently I’d never explored Sicilian wines much beyond very average, widely available Nero d’Avola. Then at a dinner recently I ordered a bottle of COS Cerasuolo. I really enjoyed it and was intrigued to by more. I ordered some Gulfi and was very pleased with both the wines and the QPR. I’ve also tried a bit more COS and some of Arianna Occhipinti’s wines. I’ve been thrilled with almost all of what I’ve had. The Occhipinti SP68 is pretty much everything I want in an Italian table wine… or at least a solid iteration of it.

2015 Arianna Occhipinti SP68 - (70% Frappato, 30% Nero) two bottles recently with same results. Loved this. Super fresh strawberry and raspberry on the nose and the palate entry, but then some light brett and sauvage notes come to the fore. Kind of a meaty sausage thing too. Ample acidity holds it all together. This is perfect for what it is, could drink a ton of this. Just might.

2015 Gulfi Cerasuolo di Vittoria - (Frappato and Nero but unsure of the %) similar to the Occhipinti, but not sure its made for consuming quite as young. I say that because the SP68 is ready to go right out of the gate, but with the Gulfi it initially seemed a bit cheap and generic. Perhaps that was just something I interpreted because the wine was rather inexpensive. But with time this opened up quite a bit into something really, really nice. Again, good freshness of fruit, but in comparison to the SP68 a bit less fruity and a bit deeper, maybe more Nero.

2012 Gulfi Rossojbleo - Nero d’Avola. This is fairly typical, but good for the table nonetheless. Darker, dried fruit. Decent acidity for what it is. Not bad but don’t love it.

2014 Az. Ag. COS Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico - Blend of Frappato and Nero, this is aged in the traditional method. Another is done in amphorae but can’t have the DOCG for that reason. This is again, very good. This one feels a bit too young and should be better in a year or so, but its all there and it doesn’t punish you much for drinking it young.

2015 COS frappato Sicilia - good fresh, light bodied Frappato. Has a slightly peppery edge. This occupies the same kind of space that good Beaujolais does in my mind for freshness, acid profile, price, and function, except it speaks Italian, with all that means in regard to wine.

So, I will continue my exploration. I’ve ordered some Cornelisson 2015 Contadino. I know that these have high incidence of reported fault and that he is about as polarizing a winemaker as there is. I consulted another thread here (Asimov on Cornelisson) before purchasing and it was interesting to see the impressions on both side. I will also look into some other producers I’ve seen mentioned here, and I’ll be buying more of Occhipinti’s wines. Her Frappato is available locally and I’ll definitely reload on the SP68.

Occhipinti’s Il Frappato is fantastic. I love it for the price point. Have you had it?

Michael, as another suggestion, if you “head east” on the island you will hit the slopes of Etna. The wines there are made from a different grape (primarily, if not solely, Nerello Mascalese), but they are vibrant reds built for the dining table. The recently released 2014 vintage looks very good, and producers like Terre Nere, Passopisciaro and Graci all seem to be reasonably available in the US markets.

Enjoy your continued search .

Tom, no I have not. I have seen it locally though and will grab some. Since its the star of the SP68 and I enjoy that so much I would imagine I’d greatly enjoy her Il Frappato as well.

Bob, I have had several bottling by Terre Nere. I have had a lot of bottle variation with Terre Nere; some excellent, some unbalanced or just meh. Have not had either Passopisciaro (on my list to try) or Graci. Have also heard good things about Foti.

Unfortunately, I’ve also experienced the same with Terre Nere. My mom was born/raised in the Etna region so I’ve really tried to taste my way through the entire area. My first Terre Nere was incredible for the price ($12). Then 3 in a row were overly acidic, overly Brett-y. Then the next few were decent. Even for the price, no thanks. I do find the Terre Nere best chilled slightly, for what it’s worth.

Tom, that is entirely consistent with what I found, the bad bottles showed excessive acidity - and I love acidity so that is saying a lot.

Interesting - to be honest, the only Etna producer where I have experienced a lot of bottle variation is Calabretta. Then again, given my palate, it would take one heck of a lot of acidity for me to object.

I had the 2014 Passopisciaro Sciaranuovo and the 2014 Terre Nere Guardiola in the past week and liked them both, with a slight preference for the Passo. We have another board member here (Tvrtko) - hopefully he will see this thread and chime in, as he has a lot of interest/knowledge/experience with Etna/Sicily.

One of the things that can still be a challenge with these wines is distribution - one reason why many folks are familiar with Terre Nere is because Marc DeGrazia is the owner, and he has long-established distribution in the states dating back to his forays in Piemonte in the late 80’s/early 90’s. For a lot of other producers, finding the wines can take some effort. Having said that, if you do have a source locally, Benanti is one producer that in my mind is about as good as it gets - his Rovitello cru is a great Nerello, and while we have been focused in this discussion on reds, his Pietramarina (made from Carricante grapes) is IMO the best white wine made in Sicily.

Yes, Peter T’s notes in a prior thread were extremely helpful. I actually had some of the basic Benanti rosso in my cart earlier this week but it sold out while I mulled my options! Thanks Bob!

Michael,

Benanti should be available to you locally (unless you’ve moved again). That’s an Etna producer I would think you would like.

You might also want to check out the Tami Frappato - Arianna Occhipinti is part of the Tami project. I’ve enjoyed the Tami Frappato, which is about half the price of the Occhipinti Il Frappato bottling, more in line with the SP68 pricing.

Jim, I’m in STL, so it may well be. I’ll look around. Hope all is well on your side of the state. I suspect you’re having the same Ice-pocalypse we are? Hasn’t really happened yet though; rather hoping it doesn’t!

Ken, the Tami wines are available locally, though I’ve seen them cheaper online, actually think that they can be had for maybe half the cost of the SP68 online. Haven’t tried one

Kansas City is currently paralyzed by a lack of ice. We’re apparently in for about 12 hours of iciness, which means three-quarters of the city has flooded the grocery stores like we’re about to live out Escape from New York.

Look for the basic Etna Rosso and Bianco - should be mid-20ish locally. The white is truly lovely - from Carricante. There was some discussion of the grape and winery semi-recently - the Rhys team is playing with Carricante at their property.

For those who have experienced bottle variation with Terre Nere, have those been recent vintages? I have experienced bottle variation as well but only with the rosso and not for a number of vintages.

+1 on Calabretta bottle variation

Love COS, Terre Nerre, Occhipinti and Passopisciaro.

The Occhipinti frappato is real nice but maybe not the best QPR ($36/bottle)

Paolo Cali is a small producer and a killer QPR (under $20/bottle). Read interesting things about Frank Cornelissen, but don’t have the nerve to try it (people either love it or hate it).

Enjoying this discussion and looking forward to a week in Sicily this summer. We’re staying near Palermo and will road trip to Etna for two days. I’ve not lined up any winery visits yet, but will be making plans soon. My experiences have been with Passopisciaro, Occhipinti, Gulfi, Az. Ag. COS, Pietradolce and Donnafugata (whites). There’s a Calabretta and a Benanti in the rotation for further analysis. Any suggestions are welcome.

The '14 Etna Rossos seem to be getting a lot of positive play – or at least hype from retailers. Anyone tried any?

I’ve had a couple bottles of the base rosso but haven’t opened any of the others. While I like the 2014, I don’t know that one can extrapolate from the rosso to the other bottlings, at least I can’t.

What producer?

Whoops. I somehow read Terre Nere into your question re 2014, not sure how. I haven’t tried any other producers 2014s yet.

You may try searching here. I recall Tegan said that he was very impressed with the 2014s but I don’t recall if he listed specific producers.

An oddity, but love the Donnafugata Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé from Sicily.