Category Archives: Sicily

Cortese Sabuci Cerasuolo di Vittoria: Surprise in Glass

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This wine was a wonderful surprise in so many ways. I had been in touch with the winery – Azienda Agricola Cortese – back in March and then as the world fell apart, I forgot all about that exchange. Then on the day of my actual birthday last month, my husband handed me an unexpected package – it was the Cortese wine. Happy birthday, indeed! 

Not paying full attention to the “gift,” I stuck the bottle in the refrigerator thinking that it was a white wine. Why? I’m not entirely sure, but I think I was confusing the winery’s name – Cortese – with the grape of the same name, which is a white variety.

So, one evening when my husband and I were about to have dinner (Branzino stuffed with tomatoes, capers and olives), we reached into the fridge, pulled out the Sabuci wine and proceeded to open it to enjoy with dinner…until we discovered that it wasn’t white at all, but red.

While I don’t think that there is only one right wine pairing, I do generally shy away from reds with delicate white fish since the wine can cause a metallic taste in the fish. Instead, we opened up a Chardonnay and permitted the red wine to warm up after its lengthy chill.

An hour or so after dinner, when the fish was merely a memory, I poured a glass of the Sicilian wine and turned my attention to what was in the glass. It was such a lovely discovery!

Photo courtesy of winery.

Azienda Agricola Cortese was initially owned by Giovanna Cortese. However, as Giovanna became older, she recognized that she was unable to maintain the winery on her own and, since none of her family members indicated an interest in taking over, she set out to sell the estate. After six years of intense negotiations, the winery was purchased by Stefano and Marina Girelli of Trento, Italy. The two were keenly aware that Sicily was a great wine producing region with significant potential and seized the opportunity to make their mark with organic, low-intervention wines.

Part of their La Selezione range, the grapes for the Sabuci Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG are grown within the Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG denomination, which is situated in the south central part of the island. More specifically, the Sabuci Cerasuolo di Vittoria hails from a small hamlet of the same name, which has been an important area for wine production ever since the Greeks established vineyards there.

This organic wine is a blend of the indigenous varieties of Nero d’Avola (70%) and Frappato (30%). The former is fermented in barriques, while the latter is fermented in 7hl terracotta amphorae, further drawing on the wine’s historical roots. The wines are then blended together and aged for six months in various vessels before being bottled and eventually released.

After tasting the Sabuci wine, it is clear that the Girelli’s are truly harnessing the potential of their winery. It was truly a very welcome surprise in a glass!

TASTING NOTE
Sabuci Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG 2016, Sicily, Italy, $20.00 (estimate)
This wine delivers plush aromas of berries, plum and cranberry with an undercurrent of herbal notes, namely wet leaves and tobacco, along with vibrant acidity, medium+ body and long length.

Photo courtesy of winery.



My Heart Belongs to Sicily and its Wines

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Sicily will always have a cherished place in my heart. I visited the Italian region in 2013 and spent a week crisscrossing the island, learning its history and immersing myself in its wine culture. At the end of my visit, I found myself at Palermo Airport crying…and I wasn’t even heading home; I still had another two weeks in Italy before I returned to the U.S.!

Something about the magical week struck me hard and stuck with me. A Siren song, perhaps? In truth, Sicily is more associated with other mythical creatures than the sirens, but regardless, I was thankfully lulled to its vinous pleasures not to my untimely death.

Since that visit, I have been thrilled to watch Sicily’s dedication to improving excellence in its wine production. Under the leadership of Antonio Rallo president of Wines of Sicilia DOC (and agronomist and winemaker for his family’s Donnafugata winery), the region has seen the creation of the Sicilia DOC category, increasing the quality level and prominence of Sicilian wines.

Accordingly, well-established wineries have risen to the challenge, elevating their wines with an eye toward innovation, yet maintaining tradition. In this regard, they remain true to their culture and heritage with an emphasis on local varieties such as Grillo, Nero d’Avola and Frappato, grapes which have been cultivated in the area for centuries.

More specifically, the modern winery at Stemmari was built to reflect the rural architectural structure known as the baglio. Similarly, Baglio di Pianetto has embraced environmental sustainability and adopted organic farming practices while the ancient feudal domain of Feudo Principi di Butera once belonged to Sicily’s first prince (Ambrogio Branciforte), but has been restored by the well-known Zonin family. And all three producers respect and understand the various terroirs of the island region.

TASTING NOTES
Baglio di Pianetto Timeo Grillo 2018, Sicilia DOC, Italy, $13.00
Lovely notes of musk, minerality and wax greet the nose. On the palate, the wine is dry, with fresh acidity and medium body. It is more structured and less fruit focused, showing notes of pear and citrus, with elegance and long length.

Stemmari Cantodoro Rosso Riserva 2014, Sicilia DOC, Italy, $14.00
A blend of 80% Nero dA’Avola and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, this rich and concentrated red wine features aromas of plums and earth. The dry palate offers up medium+ acidity, medium+ body, light tannins, and shows some development, with long length.

Feudo Principi di Butera Deliella Nero d’Avola 2014, Sicila DOC, Italy, $90.00
This wine is among the three esteemed cru level wines produced by Feudo Principi di Butera. It is a 100% Nero d’Avola from a single vineyard Deliella, named for the local district. The full-bodied wine is elegant with bright acidity, beautiful red fruit aromas and flavors, slight herbal characteristics on the nose and palate, which linger in the very long length.

Who Runs the (Wine) World: Susana Balbo, Wines of Sicily and the Women in Australian Wine Awards makes the answer abundantly clear

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A flurry of events featuring the women of wine kicked off the season’s return after the summer hiatus. Admittedly, women in wine is both new and nothing new. As they say, behind every great man is a great woman. But, perhaps the more novel news is that women are now standing (in) front and center of (or at least next to) many men in the vineyards and wineries the world over.

While I missed it due to ill health, the Women in Australian Wine Awards honored the women who have made their mark in Australian wine. The world’s “first and only awards platform for women in wine,” was held on September 17 in New York.

Similarly, an event earlier in the month presented a wide range of Wines of Sicily, recognizing the women in this region. I had the opportunity to meet Lilly Ferro Fazio, Export Manager of Casa Vinicola Fazio, who shared her experiences in bringing together the women of her region and noting the challenges they faced amidst a very traditional/male-dominated society. She addressed the need to find support and resources to successfully manage both her job and the family household because her husband still expects her to fulfill a traditional spousal role in addition to her career.

Another wine woman bucking the trend of being a simple, stay-at-home mom, is Argentine winemaker, Susana Balbo who initially applied to study nuclear physics in Bariloche. Her parents would not permit her to leave Mendoza, but, not one to be deterred, she eventually became the first woman in Argentina to earn a degree in enology. By 2012 she had been named as one of the “Most influential women wine-makers” by The Drink Business magazine, and, six years later, was listed among “The 10 most influential women in the wine world” in the same publication.

Today, Susana Balbo produces wines in both Mendoza and Salta regions. Her wines are well respected and can be found in the market under two labels: her namesake Susana Balbo and her Crios line. The Crios portfolio recently underwent a makeover, sporting new packaging that emphasizes the wines’ elegance and classic nature. Available in four different varietal options, the wines were recently released in the New York market.

Crios Torrontes 2018, Cafayate (Salta) and Valle de Uco (Mendoza), Argentina, $15.00
Pronounced nose with floral, tropical fruit, hint of cotton candy and a dry, yet ripe, palate with medium-to-full body, medium acidity and long length.

Crios Rose 2018 of Malbec, Vallee de Uco (Mendoza), Argentina, $15.00
Notes of strawberry, cherry and watermelon greet the nose. The palate is dry, with medium+ acidity, medium body, culminating in long length.

Crios Malbec 2018 Vallee de Uco (Mendoza), Argentina, $15.00
Deep in color, this wine displays fresh and dried herbs and blackberry aromas, which are joined by spice and red fruit flavors on the dry, full-bodied palate, with good length.

Crios Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 Vallee de Uco (Mendoza), Argentina, $15.00
The nose offers up lovely red and black fruit, which persist on the dry, full-bodied palate, with textural tannins, blackberry, black cherry, oak, with good acidity and long length.

Rediscovering Sicily and discovering Prezi

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Italy 2013-05-08_247I’ve just returned from the American Wine Society‘s annual conference where I presented a session on Sicilian wines. As you may know, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit this amazing Italian region back in May. So, it was with great pleasure that I shared my experiences with seminar participants.

While I presented them with a lot of information about the region’s history, culture and commercial development, my main goal was to reinforce two main points:
-The Sicilian wine industry has made dramatic improvement in the quality of its wines;
and, perhaps more importantly,
-Sicilian wines are enjoyable to drink.

Beyond that, everything else they took away with them was gravy (mmm… gravy, thank goodness Thanksgiving is around the corner 😉 ).

In fact, since this was a group of wine enthusiasts, I wanted my session to seem more like a travelogue than a traditional lecture. Accordingly, I made sure to include many personal stories from my trip to capture the audience’s attention and imagination.

These same stories have been immortalized in an article I wrote earlier this year. If you haven’t already seen it, you can take a look here.

Of course, as an educator, I was also mindful to weave in facts about the region and its wines, having done considerable research on the new Sicilia DOC and Sicily’s indigenous grape varieties.

Aside from storytelling, I also implemented a new tool, Prezi, to introduce movement and perspective into my presentation. If you are not familiar with Prezi, it’s as if PowerPoint and Flash had a love child (okay – so I don’t know why these two software programs would have an affair, but just pretend they did).

This was my first foray into using this tool, so there is room for improvement, but I think it was a good first effort. What do you think? You can check out my actual presentation online.

What are your favorite ways for presenting about wine (or other topics)? Do you have any signature moves or methods to your madness? Tell me what works in the comments below!