Cos Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2006

60% Nero d'Avola, 40% Frappato di Vittoria, 13% ABV

I was persuaded by my chatty and enthusiastic local Philglas & Swiggot man to buy this unusual Sicilian red wine with a strange fat bottle, not cheap at around £17.00, but which turned out to be an excellent recommendation. I was looking for something Italian, exciting and different. I'm trying to expand my knowledge of the bewildering array of native Italian varieties. You would have thought that being from Sicily, which has a hot, dry climate, that we'd be looking at a wine with high extraction, high alcohol, intense read more...stewed fruit aromas and abrasive tannins, but actually it's more like a Burgundy - soft, light, gorgeously aromatic with a fresh, vivid, minerally finish.

This is a very surprising and interesting find. It looks unusual, to start with - the bottle is short and plump - and the label is austere. The ABV is only 13%, which is rare for a Mediterranean wine nowadays. The colour is a light, garnet red, and the wine exudes a gentle perfume of smoked bacon, tobacco and toasty oak, followed by a very balanced, impeccably structured mouthfeel with both savoury and sweet sensations - grilled meats, blackberries - and a very pleasant, impressive, elegant, tightly wound, mineral finish. Tim Atkin recently wrote that Sicily was making great wines - this is definitely proof of that. 92 points.    (hide)

March 2009

No written review

March 2009