Sicily is an emerging wine region of Italy.

Given that Piedmont, Veneto and Tuscany already have a strong international reputation, and that high quality wines are produced in what could be called, from a geographical point of view, their “extensions” (Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige and Umbria), Sicily is gaining increasing reputation among international wine lovers, not only for the quality of the wines it is producing but also for their uniqueness.

Frappato is one of the rare, local vine varieties that made on this hot Mediterranean island a rising star in the wine firmament.

What is Frappato? Is it a variety or a wine?

Frappato is a red variety, which is responsible for some of Sicily’s most delicious unknown wines. Grown in the province of Ragusa, especially in the countryside around Vittoria and around Syracuse, in southern Sicily. It seems to perform best when grown on red sandy-calcareous soils such as those of
 the Vittoria area; one grand cru area for Frappato is between Pedalino and Acate; another is Bastonaca.

From the genetic point of view, it is believed to have a parent-offspring relationship between Frappato and Sangiovese, and that Frappato is a sibling of the Gaglioppo variety of Calabria.

What is Frappato used for?

Frappato is famous for being one of the two varieties - the other being Nero d’Avola - that can be used to produce Cerasuolo di Vittoria, the only DOCG wine in Sicily.

Not many people know that Frappato is also used to produce a single variety wine that bears the same name and that is surprisingly enjoyable, thanks to its quite light body, pretty unusual for a wine made at certain latitudes, and its pleasant flavors of soft, ripe red fruits. Its delicately tannic personality means you can also lightly chill it.

Best Frappatos are counter balanced by a good level of acidity, which makes them pretty fresh and drinkable, especially when paired with Sicilian savory cheeses and complex fish preparations.

What does the name Frappato mean?

As we are accustomed to see when it’s about Italian wines and vine varieties, their names speak, and their meanings address distinctive peculiarities they have.

Frappato” allegedly comes from the word “frappa” (whose etymology should be probably sought in ancient French frape), that means “frill”, “ruffle”, “ruffling edge of a dress”, and is referred to the shape of its grapes, which are pretty sparse and decisively winged.

 

Quality wines to Try:

Paolo Cali

Valle dell’Acate

COS

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Let’s talk about Some Italian sparkling wines.

From west to east, first comes Asti Spumante, from the town of Asti in Piedmont, probably the most traditional one, the one whose corks had popped into the air on New Year’s eve for decades in the majority of Italian homes, no matter the social class. Asti Spumante is made using the Moscato Bianco grape and originally was processed the traditional method (Champagne techniques) but transitioned to the Martinotti-Charmat (tank method) which better preserves the aromatic richness of the Moscato grape.

Then there is Franciacorta, which takes its name from a sub region of Lombardy, in the province of Brescia. Franciacorta is produced from three varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco. It’s the elegant and precious Italian traditional method that showed the world those great sparkling wines can be produced outside of France, too.

Trento DOC, from Trentino, nowadays successfully follows its footsteps. Trent DOC is a high-quality traditional method sparkling produced from Chardonnay, Pinot Nero with Chardonnay playing the dominant role. They can also be supplemented with Pinot Bianco or Meunier.

Finally comes Prosecco, which is produced in almost the whole Veneto region and part of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Prosecco is the name of the wine and Glera is the name of the grape that is dominant in the sparkling that is made the by Martinotti-Charmat method. It may not be the most traditional or refined one, but it is surely the most popular at the moment and the one that is being produced and sold the most at present. The highest quality and most famous Proseccos being produced in in the Cartizze region.

And yet, that’s not all.

In Monti Lessini, a district in the province of Verona, to the east of the Lake Garda and practically halfway between Franciacorta and Prosecco they still grow and produce wine from a lesser known autochthonous variety called Durella.

What is Durella?

Durella is an Italian autochthonous grape variety, known for its high acid, originated and grown on the Lessini Mountains area, which more or less means to the north / north-east of Valpolicella. There are two DOCs within the Monti Lessini district base on Durella, Monti Lessini DOC & Lessini Durello DOC.

From the Durella grape they produce Durello sparkling wine from the Lessini Durello DOC.  As it often happens with wines, its name has a popular origin. It comes from the adjective “duro”, that means “hard”, and refers to the thickness of the peel of its berries and to its capability to stand hardships and, therefore, to provide regular harvests and pretty good yields.

The popular origin of the name is also the reason why the grape variety is often called Durello (with a mutation from feminine to masculine gender) as the wine itself. Although it’s not an error to talk about Durello (masculine) variety, you can’t refer to the wine with the noun Durella (feminine).

And what is Durello?

Proven that it is a wine with a long history, it was found that it has been produced since the 18th century. Lessini Durello is an expressive sparkling white wine with a minimum of 85% Durella and made in two versions; Spumante, which is made the Martinotti-Charmat method and Spumante Riserva, which is made traditional method.

What’s special with Durello Sparkling wine?

The grape and the winemaking style, as it often happens when it’s about wines, play a pivotal role, but what’s really different, here, is the land.

Lessini Mountains have a volcanic soil that provides the grapes with a distinctive minerality, that can’t be found elsewhere.

The wines are characterized with bigger structure and acidity than Prosecco with recognizable honey, orchard fruit with aromas and flavors complimented by lemony and intense mineral presence. The wine is less creamy than Franciacorta but better acidity and lift. This all makes for great aging potential.

Best Durello sparkling wines are those who rested on their yeasts long enough to allow them counterbalance primary aromas of the berries, so that the wine develops its full aromatic potential.

A couple of my favorite producers:

Sandro de Bruno

Torre dei Vescovi

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What does eating slow means

Slow Food is nowadays a global movement that aims to make people appreciate and choose “true food” from local producers.

It was born in Italy - and more precisely in the blessed region called Piedmont, where they grow Nebbiolo grapes that eventually become Barolo and Barabresco bottles, and where they seek after precious white truffles of Alba -  in the middle of the Eighties, that is when all over the world the fast-food trend was booming.

Its name, indeed, is SlowFood in Italian language, too, as the association wants to stand in opposition to fast-foods’ culinary and the gastronomical globalization they require, as well as the related consumption of low-quality food made with low-quality, cheap ingredients, the abandon of local culinary traditions and products, and the growing unsustainable food provision.

What does wine have to do with the Slow food movement?

In the last 30 years or so, the movement grew and went beyond Italy’s boundaries and the area of mere food, so that, nowadays, it operates in more than 100 countries, including USA, and focuses on wine, too, promoting cultivation and consumption of autochthonous and/or locally grown grape varieties.

Slowine is the name of a magazine published by Slow Foods that talks about local, forgotten excellent products and tells the stories of proud and strong winemakers that everyday chose to chase a quality and fair production.

Recently, some small Italian winemakers, representing the Slow Food wine making philosophy, made a tour in United States, to bring people’s awareness on “clean” wine making and small producers.

Slow Wine 2016 world tour

It’s the fifth time this annual tour takes place.

Between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, some selected winemakers from Italy and the editorial board of the magazine went through San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and New York (it was actually a kind of World Tour that brought them in Asia and northern Europe, too).

To get into SlowFood wine guide, a winery can’t only produce wines that are good at taste, they must be good in a wider sense. To say it in Slow Food’s words, they must be good, clean and fair. This means that winemakers that step into the guide work their vineyards respecting soil and environment, use traditional techniques (something that, for the sake of truth, is pretty common among quality Italian winemakers, regardless their general care for environment), and that defend the biodiversity of grape varieties.

Indeed, almost all the listed producers are certified organic and biodynamic, and those who are not still show great responsibility towards environment and final customer, as Slow Food certifies by visiting winemakers at their cellars (not tasting wines from bottles they receive for tasting panels, like many tasters do when reviewing wines for other guides).

The only tour stop open to consumers was the one that took place in New York on February the 3rd, while the three former ones were reserved to journalists and wine traders.

Some argued that not allowing simple wine lovers to wine tasting is a strange way to promote the consumption of a particular kind of wine among people, and that talking about the importance of getting slow, local and environmental-friendly while touring the world with about 50 winemakers from another continent is pretty weird, too.

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