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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Among Italian wine region, Tuscany surely deserves a special place, thanks to the several top quality cellars producing long lasting, full-bodied, renowned red wines.

One of the wines that made the myth of Tuscan wine is Brunello di Montalcino, which also is, together with Barolo from Piedmont, the most long-living Italian wine, as it can age for decades.

What is Brunello made of?

Until the XIX century, Brunello di Montalcino was thought to be produced from an autochthonous, unique, grape variety, but in 1879 a group of scientists found out that it was a clone of Sangiovese.

The wrong belief about the uniqueness of the variety from which Brunello is made from was probably due to the particular expression Sangiovese has in the area. Local special climate and soil, in other words, give the grapes a character they don’t get elsewhere.

Brunello di Montalcino, indeed, is made of 100% Sangiovese and no other grape variety is allowed in its production, therefor its roundness, complexity and variety of aromas all come from a fully developed single kind of grape.

Where is Brunello produced?

As its same name says, Brunello comes from Montalcino, a medieval small town in the province of Siena, by the border with the province of Grosseto. This means that Montalcino lies in the southern part of Tuscany, only 200 kilometers to the north of Rome and only 40 kilometers as the crow flies from the Mediterranean Sea.

Which are the main Brunello di Montalcino production guidelines?

Brunello is a DOCG wine, which is the highest level for an Italian wine. Yet, it is a relatively recent DOGC wine, as the wine received the “denominations” in 1998.

According to its production guidelines, grapes from which Brunello di Montalcino will be made must come from vineyards growing on slopes only, and on soils that can be dated back between Cretaceous and Pliocene ages.

The maximum allowed altitude is 600 meters on sea level and any forcing is forbidden, including rescue irrigation.

Brunello must age for at least 24 months in oak barrels - no matter their size, there’s no need for them to be actual barriques - and then at least four months in bottle (that become six if it is Brunello “Riserva”) before being marketed.

Brunello di Montalcino can only be marketed after January the 1^st of the fifth year after the harvest (the sixth when it’s about “Riserva”). This means that wines from grapes harvested in Fall 2015 will be sold from January 1^st 2020 on.

What is Brunello di Montalcino Riserva?

As it happens with many DOCG wines, according to production guidelines, it is forbidden to put on Brunello bottles misleading labels, for instance containing adjectives that somehow suggest a special, superior quality, like, indeed, “superior”, “selected”, “fine”, “aged”, “picked” and so on.

When we se the word “Riserva” on a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, it means that that bottle comes from a special reserve, allowed and guaranteed by law, that aged longer in bottle.

With which dishes should be paired Brunello di Montalcino?

Brunello has a wide, composite and complex bouquet, as well as full and elegant body.

This makes of it a perfect wine to be tasted alone, too, but it is traditionally paired with intense-flavored meat dishes, even with those dressed with truffle, and with tasty, aged cheeses, especially the pungent ones produced in Tuscany and Umbria.

Suggested Producers:

Altesino BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO D.O.C.G. RISERVA

San Polo BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVAPoggio 

Antico Brunello di Montalcino D.O.C.G. Riserva

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The 25th of December has become an occasion to spend time with beloved person - usually gathering around a sumptuously decked table - even in countries where they don’t celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, so let’s figure out what Christmas represents in Italy, where they basically “invented” the Christmas meal, or - at least - take it very seriously.

Strange but true, even if Italian Christmas culinary traditions are rich, various and deep-rooted all along the boot-shaped peninsula, Italians are surprisingly inadequate when it’s about to elect a wine to be traditionally consumed at Christmas.

How can it be?

Remember, Italy is the country of variety. This makes a cornucopia of gastronomic treasures of it but also an unbelievably disunited country under several points of view.

“Cenone” and “Pranzo di Natale”: before and after the holy night

The main distinction in Italian Christmas traditions consists in the time of the same Christmas meal.

In southern regions they use to have a rich dinner - they call it “cenone”, that literally means “big dinner” - with fish and seafood dishes on December 24th, after which the gathered family goes out to attend the Mass at midnight.

In the northern regions, on the other hand, they traditionally have a sumptuous lunch on December 25th, usually consuming filling pasta and meat dishes. They simply call it “pranzo di Natale” (Christmas lunch) but it’s far from being as inoffensive as its name suggests.

Every region, every town and basically every family has its own traditional Christmas menu, usually composed of local traditional dishes, prepared every year according to particular, family recipes, that are handed down from one generation to another. This means that wines consumed on Christmas can vary a lot from area to area, with the only common peculiarity of being of a superior quality than usual.

In Piedmont they uncork Barolo and eat “ravioli del plin” and braised beef, while in the area around Verona they drink Amarone with risotto and game.

By Rome they can make a toast with some high quality Grechetto, while grated scallops fill the room with their attracting aroma, and by Naples glasses are filled with Falanghina, Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avellino and Biancolella, while dishes are full to the brim with mussels, spaghetti with clams and codfish.

Happy Christmas (meal is over)

Once the meal is over - be it the dinner or the lunch - Italians have present, “globalized” traditional desserts.

They usually already have had local traditional Christmas desserts, like struffoli in Naples (fried small pieces of sweet dough kept together in a donut shape with honey and candied fruit) and presnitz in Trieste (a cake of Austro-Hungarian origin made of a sort of phyllo dough filled with a troubling quantity of dried fruits and liqueur), but at the very end of the meal they have a slice of one of the two most representative Christmas cakes: panettone (originally from Milan) or pandoro (from Verona).

Both these two cakes can nowadays be purchased in supermarkets for a few euros (even if the artisan ones produced in bakeries and pastry shops are still far better products) and are sold every year in tons.

Together with these cakes, for some still inexplicable reason, Italians drink sparkling wines.

All I want for Christmas is bubbles

Although Italy produces great sparkling wines that can be enjoyed throughout the meal, be them champenoise methods from Franciacorta or Prosecco di Valdobbiadene and Asti Spumante made by Charmat-Martinotti method, Italians (at least, many of them) seem to lose their minds on Christmas, and they pair them with panettone and pandoro.

Asti Spumante is a sweet sparkling wine that is traditionally drunk at the end of a Christmas meal more or less all over the country, thanks to its sugar contents, that makes it go just barely decently with cakes. Its bubbles still make the pairing appear like a forced marriage, because neither pandoro nor panettone are fatty enough to stand up to them.

As an alternative, some kinds of Prosecco are also popular, because this sparkling wine is bottled in three different kinds, according to its sugar remains, and the so called “dry” version can contain up to 32 grams of sugar per liter, which makes a pretty sweet wine of it.

Unfortunately, the marriage with panettone and pandoro is not happier than the one made by Asti Spumante, but it doesn’t seem to stop Italians from perpetrating this barbarity.

Moreover, some also insist in pluming their papillas by pairing desserts with brut, non-sweet, sparkling wines, too.

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