From: Sicily, Italy
Varietal: Frappato
Taste: This microclimate's calcareous soils and temperature swings combine to produce a Frappato that is particularly expressive and elegant. The wine has an intense bouquet of red fruit, roses, and white pepper. Vibrant notes of crunchy, underripe raspberry and cranberry are well-defined on the palate, and the wine is lithe and impossibly fine in texture. Despite this incredible delicacy, it is punctuated with precise tannins that provide a framework for the polished fruit. The finish is long and beautiful, with more tart red fruit and a pleasant amaro-like bitterness. On an island already punching well above its weight, Gurrieri is a true standout!
Pairing: Frappato pairs well with so many delicious meals. Roasted chicken, pasta, charcuterie, and dishes that include roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomato. It’ll be the cranberry to your turkey (or the lingonberry to a Swedish meatball) and pair just as effortlessly alongside risottos and any mushroom-based meal. Today, we’re sharing a recipe with a distinctive Mediterranean lean that’ll be the bees knees next to this versatile red. Za’atar Roasted Tofu With Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Lemony Tahini, by Yewande Komolafe.
About this wine. Made entirely of Frappato grapes, planted in 2008, estate-grown in the parishes of Ponte and Fegotto, near Chiaramonte Gulfi. These vineyards are of reddish iron-rich sand interspersed with layers of clay, at about 280 meters (900 feet) above sea level; the climate is very hot but with cooler night-time temperature (which leads to better acidity in the grapes). The fruit is harvested in several passes, at moderate ripeness, normally around the middle of September; the grapes are lightly crushed and fermented at controlled temperature in stainless steel tanks using indigenous yeasts. Maceration is around two weeks. The wine is aged in stainless steel for 9 months before bottling.
The varietal. Frappato is an aromatic variety, unusual for a red grape. The wine is brilliant mid-red in color, with clear floral and berry/pomegranate fruit notes and some spice and tea-leaf on the nose and the palate. Very useful food wine; I pair this with many pasta dishes, fish, pork, and roast chicken. Amazing with grilled tuna, and a clear candidate for the Summer Red Wine Hall of Fame. I drink it slightly chilled, but then any good red wine should be drunk at the temperature of a cool cellar, not room temperature.