WORDS"You'll find my notes below on a broad cross-section of 36 Sicilian wines, including some fruit liqueurs too, which must pretty much represent all conceivable styles you'll come across from this island of mystery. Mystery, as I wasn't very familiar with the wines made on this big chunk of picturesque land floating off the toe of Italy, as the cliché goes; except for a couple of unusual and noteworthy, indigenous white varieties and a few very enticing dark and smoky Mediterranean reds enjoyed quite a long time ago. And like other Italian wines, you also have to delve a little deeper to work out what's what in terms of grapes, winery name or region on sometimes not very helpful labels (which is part of the charm too, you might well add). And because Sicily itself evokes vivid images and myths as well; I almost went on a wine trip there back in March this year but didn't, in the end, for various reasons. So, I contented myself with spending a good hour or two on the Sicilian stand at the London Wine fair in May 2010; much to the delight of at least one producer, who said I should've been awarded "the gold medal for tasting Sicily!"My memory of some interesting, and rather good, white wines was reconfirmed: the Grillo variety in particular is a real star making quite complex, full bodied yet zingy dry whites (e.g. Ottoventi, Casa di Grazia: see opposite). Insolia or Inzolia (it appears that you can spell it with either) is another one with a bit of character in the right hands, or blended with a second variety (e.g. Brugnano). Catarrato is widely planted - as is Chardonnay by the way - and wines made from it are perhaps more variable, but I found a couple of nice ones (e.g. Ferreri). There's some good concise info on Sicily's grapes on this page of this site: www.siciliana.it. As for reds, I got a little carried away tasting wines shaped from Nero d'Avola, which can conjure up lovely seductive red wines such as Brugnano, Ceuso and Santa Anastasia; and as part of an "international" blend e.g. Cristo di Campobello. I wasn't sure about red wines from the Etna area, although admittedly I only tasted a couple; and other local red grapes to get your tongue around include the two Nerellos (one of them also has two names!), grown around the latter volcano, and Frappato... plus there's now a fair amount of Syrah, Cab etc. planted.In addition, Sicily is home to diverse styles of Muscat, often using the curious pen-name of Zibibbo (actually Muscat of Alexandria), which is incarnated in at least three DOC (appellation) areas. Other worthwhile sweeties are crafted from Malvasia, such as the unique ones stemming from Lipari and the other tiny islands north of Sicily's northeast tip (see map). Not forgetting legendary Marsala of course, whose vineyards are found on the far west coast around the eponymous town. This fortified cask-aged wine, made from a mix of the native white varieties mentioned above, comes in several guises in terms of sweetness and how long aged. As you can see from Pellegrino's 1980 vintage raved about opposite, some of these wines do mature spectacularly over a long period of time. Take a look too at my notes on Limonio's extraordinary, love-or-hate-them fruit and plant liqueurs. These "natural" alcoholic tipples - they're all only made from the base ingredient, alcohol, water and sugar - won't leave you indifferent, if you ever get the chance to try them: perhaps in a Sicilian restaurant, mixed into a cocktail or, better still, in situ!A handful of fuller profiles on some of the wineries reviewed here will appear shortly on my new "Winery snapshots 8: Sicily" page on www.winewriting.com. And I'll fill in any details of UK/US prices and stockists when I get them..."WINESSparkling2007 Murgo Brut Método Classico (Nerello Mascalese) - attractive lightly yeasty/toasty nose; shows a touch of richness and class with refreshing tang on the finish. Nice "Blanc de Noir Cava" style! 85+Whites2009 Murgo Etna Bianco (Caricante/Catarrato) - enticing banana and honeysuckle aromas; floral vs exotic palate with a hint of yeast-lees "fatness" vs again refreshing finish. 85+2009 Brugnano Kue Insolia/Viognier - nice floral and "mineral" notes vs peach and pineapple; attractive juicy fruit with a bit of weight and body vs zesty "chalky" finish. 85+2009 Ferreri Catarrato - lovely aromatic profile with lees-y and nutty edges; has attractive juicy texture with richer touches vs fresh bite, tasty and quite intense length. 87+2009 Brugnano V90 Catarrato - similar profile, although nuttier and more floral with leaner mineral finish; and easier-going too. 80-852009 Calatrasi Terre di Ginestra Catarrato - lively aromatic and "chalky" start; juicy mouth-feel with crisp bite, steely and quite intense. 85+2009 Casa di Grazia Zahora Grillo - delicious exotic honeyed notes vs zesty citrus edges; peachy and a tad oily/creamy, quite concentrated then zingy finish. 87+2009 Nicosia Fondo Filara Inzolia - again attractive juicy vs exotic fruit, a touch of oily texture with nutty and quite crisp finish. 83-852008 Baglio del Cristo di Campobello di Licata Adènzia (Chardonnay/Grillo) - pity about that intrusive toasty/dirty? wood, as this has intriguing white fruit character with minty tones; quite rich and rounded followed by nuttier finish, again that funny wood lingers too.2009 Ottoventi ".8" Grillo - peach and apricot with juicy lees-y notes; quite rich vs zesty and mineral, again has lively long finish with lingering exotic juicy vs lightly nutty fruit. 87+Reds2008 Paolo Calì Mandragola Vittoria Frappato - aromatic and perfumed with morello cherry notes; light-ish palate with a touch of grip and resin-y dried fruits too, quite nice and easy and different. 80-852008 Murgo Etna Rosso (Nerello Mascalese/Nerello Mantellato) - pretty smoky and rustic vs ripe dried red fruits and perfumed wild herby minty edges; gripping tannins and farm-y finish, but it's still quite interesting!2008 Nicosia Fondo Filara Etna Rosso (Nerello Mascalese/Nerello Mantellato or Cappuccio) - unusual nose with baked dark fruits, again resin & wild herbs and a bit oxidised actually; meaty, very firm mouth-feel with dry grip vs some very ripe dried fruit. Not sure, again it's intriguing though.2008 Calatrasi Terre di Ginestra Nero d'Avola - nice "sweet" resin-y fruit although ends up a bit lean and hard.2009 Tola Nero d'Avola - juicy "modern" youthful fruit, dark and "sweet" vs firm and wild herby; "nice and easy does it." 80+2008 Ottoventi ".20" Nero d'Avola - very tasty, up-front blackberries with a touch of spicy oak; nice fruit vs dark chocolate, lively spicy vs firm and rounded finish. Good "modern" style yet definitely Mediterranean. 87+2006 Mimmo Paone Funnari Nero d'Avola - attractive maturing savoury vs ripe and smoky nose; more subtle style although still intense, showing nice balance of dried fruits, dry tannins and underlying oak. 892008 Casa di Grazia Gradiva Nero d'Avola - appealing soft-ish, ripe red and black fruit combo vs a touch of supporting tannin; attractive spicy finish. 85+2007 Casa di Grazia Collectio Nero d'Avola - slightly reductive notes on the nose? Cleaner palate though with peppery dark cherry, grip and power and lingering dried fruit / black olive notes; has a bit of class too. 88+2008 Ceuso Scurati Nero d'Avola - delicious dried black cherry and raisin profile, spicy and dark with wild herb edges; solid and powerful mouth-feel vs underlining depth of dried black fruit, very nice. 88-902007 Abbazia Santa Anastasia Passomaggio Nero d'Avola + Merlot - lovely ripe black cherry nose with resin and raisin edges; savoury leather touches on the palate with firm backdrop then tasty "sweet" fruit and a bit of oomph. 89+2006 Abbazia Santa Anastasia Montenero Nero d'Avola + Merlot + Cabernet Sauvignon - darker profile still with raisin and black olive notes; very rich vs very firm mouth-feel, spicy and punchy finish. Wow. 90+2007 Brugnano Lunario Nero d'Avola - maturing savoury aromas underpinned by ripe resin-y dark cherries, raisins and black olives; lush and quite concentrated with spicy and wild herb tones, delicious finish with nice grip vs dried fruit. 90-922007 Cristo di Campobello Adènzia (Nero d'Avola / Syrah / Cabernet Sauvignon) - "sweet" vs smoky notes with red pepper edges; again pretty concentrated with solid chunky palate vs lush prune-y fruit and tobacco tones, a touch overdone perhaps yet "impressive." 88+2006 Marchesi de Gregorio Gregorio Maximo IGT Sicilia (Nero d'Avola / Cabernet Sauvignon) - scented raisin and wild herb nose, more savoury in the mouth underlined by black fruits; the tannins are a bit extracted on the finish, pity as it's complex and tasty. 87+2008 Cristo di Campobello "CDC" (Nero d'Avola / Syrah / Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot) - similar dark cherry aromas with smoky resin and wild herbs; delicious dried fruit profile, very concentrated with lush rounded mouth-feel vs attractive solid tannins and weight. 92+Dessert wines & fruit liqueurs2007 Ottoventi Scibà Zibibbo "Passito" (14%) - gorgeous "late-harvest" nose with exotic marmalade and spicy greener edges; very rich and Muscat-y vs orange peel and nice "cut" showing super balance. Yummy. 90+2007 Mimmo Paone Malvasia delle Lipari "Passito di Salina" (14%) - intricate nutty yeasty oxidised nose; quite rich palate but very nutty too with tangy citrus finish, sweet vs attractive "cut". Odd but good! 89+1980 Pellegrino Marsala "Vergine" - wow, complex caramel and pecan nut flavours, intense and tasty with "sweet/savoury" finish and a bit of kick. Didn't "score" it as I tried it with an anchovy canapé: worked surprisingly well (anchovy is usually a wine killer)!Limonio Fico d'India liqueur (prickly pear cactus, 30% alc.) - unusual flowery aromas/flavours vs kick and sweet finish.Limonio Gelsi Neri (black mulberries, 32%) - cough mixture and milk chocolate, nice on ice cream I'd imagine.Limonio Arancione (orange liqueur, 30%) - wow: very intense orange zest oil aromas and gorgeous orangey flavours.Limonio Limone (35%) - pure lemon intensity, very zesty and "wake up"! Incredible flavour, if you like lemons.Limonio Mandaretto (mandarin, 35%) - very different from the orange one actually and, erm, very mandarin-y. Love it.Limonio Cannella - super cinnamon intensity, Speculoos biscuit flavours!Limonio Laurel leaves - weird herbal concoction although a great palate cleanser!All rights © Richard M James July 2010
