I have just returned from a lovely weekend in Melbourne. The temp was in the 40s Centigrade so zesty whites were the order of the day.
On Saturday we dined at Neil Perry’s new Italian called Rosetta that was really excellent. Great service and well executed cuisine. I needed something to partner a raw scampi dish and had a hankering for something Italian after a tasty Verdiccio the night prior. A smart Sommelier was dispatched to my table and I gave him the brief that I wanted something minerally and fresh. He gave me three options, but he was super keen on this wine, which incidentally was one of the cheaper wines on the list, despite my preparedness to pay quite a bit more. It’s from a region I am completely unfamiliar with and made from two varieties that I have never encountered, or even heard uttered. The wine was the bomb with the cuisine.
2012 Hauner Salina Bianco IGT
It is made from 60% Inzolia and 40% Catarratto from Sicily. It was as our somm described, citrus fruits, a garriguey herbiness and a kiss of fresh sea spray. It was like the wine had been infused by the fresh saltiness of a surging ocean.
Inzolia is nice but Catarratto is serious: we’ve tasted several cantinas’ with verticals of up to 10 vintages and they just got better with age.
Any other reccos Roberto from Catarratto, or similar styled wines.
Wondering why these varieties have not been trialled in other locales?
Thanks for the note, interesting sounding wine. Unfortunately it seems hard to find outside of Italy:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/hauner+bianco+catarratto+inzolia+salina/2012
Feudi Montoni and the Valdibella Coop in Camporeale make great everyday examples but THESE guys blew our freaking minds out in a 2012 tasting near Verona:
Porta del Vento, Camporeal (Palermo)
This guy had crazy good AGED Catarratto plus very nice Perricone based reds. GREAT packaging.
Porta del Vento Line
All of these are done in steel and are relatively low in alcohol (12-12.5%). On their web sight they quote the lyrics from Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence”!
*Catarrato 2011
Fermented in steel, has really nice citrus zest and spice on the nose, medium body and a clean dry finish with serious minerals and firm acidity. It’s easy to see how these can age for years.
*Catarrato 2010
Very fresh and lively. I would take the latest vintage and then one older one.
Catarrato 2009
Less fruit here, more spice. Starting to get a nice golden color.
**Catarrato 2008
Still solid and starting to get an older White Bordeaux thing about it.
**Catarrato 2007
Honeyed, very lush, spicy on the nose. Grab small amounts of this or the 2008.
***Catarrato Brut
This was truly something: it had spice and citrus so strong on the nose it reminded me of Aperol. It’s a niche thing but could build.
Saharay Line
Catarratto Saharay 2009
45 days skin contact! Fermented in open air wood, bottled without filtration. Notes of Bourbon on the nose.
***Catarratto Saharay 2008
INTENSE…much richer and spicier. Grab this pronto!
There’s some 2008 of the Hauner in the US:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/hauner
I believe WineBow imports their dessert wines at least.
Vignetti Walter Massa makes perhaps my favorite Cataratto ever. We only get a limited amount here in the USA.
I am amazed to have just read that Catarratto is Italy’s second most planted variety!!! And here I am saying that I have never heard of it!
Hi Kent,
My last trip to Melbourne I approached in a similar way and got great recommendations. All the wine I normally drink was priced in the stratosphere so great getting recommendations on wines new to me, priced well, and great. Cheers Mike
Those were in New York awhile back – perhaps they still are, but it’s been awhile since I saw one – really lovely and affordable.
Cattaratti in Sicily can be really serious. I’ve had a few from Benanti that rewards serios cellaring (10 yeras) in good vintages, and with ageing can have a definite similarity to good Chablis, mineral with citrus and seaspray, though without the chalkiness.