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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Title/Role: 

Filippo Zardetto, owner and sales manager

Q1: Please, tell us about how you got into wine, the wine industry and how your career developed?

Just like my dad, granddad and other 3 generation before him, I was born "inside" the wine industry since our home was just upstairs the winery, in Ogliano hills, just north of Conegliano. Since I was very young, I was involved in harvest, vinification processes and, after finishing the high school, in sales. Since that time, I've been travelling all around the world most of the year developing Zardetto Prosecco sales network.

Q2: What is your winemaking philosophy; that is, what are you trying to achieve with your wines?

The basic point is to bring into the bottle the different characteristics that make all single terroirs of Prosecco region unique. This involves single parcel vinification, extremely light clarification, and house selection of yeasts starting from the indigenous ones and technology investments.

Q3: Which varietal is your favorite to work with and why?

As a Prosecco specialist, we basically work only with the Glera grapes. The last planted vineyards include experimental vines from different other clones of Glera taken from all 80/90 year old vines of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene region.

Q4: What are the biggest changes you've seen in winemaking since you got started?

Starting from a "generalistic" philosophy of Prosecco, with only one blend of vineyards and creating different wines changing the residual sugar (many Prosecco producers still work in this way) going to a "cru approach" of Prosecco, selecting different vineyards for every wine. This is why at the moment we produce 7 brut.

Q5: How do you see the future of wine production and what are the challenges and the opportunities?

Quality wines' future can develop only if producers and the whole wine supply chain invest in wine knowledge. If people know what they are drinking, and don’t drink it only because it's fashionable or cheap, they could have a lot better wine experience. The future is making every wine unique starting from indigenous grapes and terroir characteristic. Less generalization and more connection with the place when your wine is made.

Q6: Where do you see the global wine market in 10 years?

US market, like many other young but big wine markets in the world (Asia, UK) are now discovering the universe of wine and how many different option they can have. Now many wine drinkers are just overwhelmed of having too many buying option and usually buy the cheapest or the one with the fanciest label because they simply have no idea of what they are looking for. After 10/15 year of wine drinking, people in those growing market will start to understand the difference and will drive the average quality level up.

Q7: What was your favorite family meal growing up and why?

When I was young, we hade a whole family lunch almost every weekend! In the winery, the was where the whole family lived, my granddad Pino used to cook the "spiedies", a meat skewer with pork, chicken and rabbit slowly cooked (7 hours) on the fire with sage, lemon and oil sauce. That was a good time to stay together.

Q8: What would people be surprised to know about you?

How much wine can I drink without feeling it!

Zardetto has been equipped with the best in modern winemaking machinery and technology, guaranteeing their ability to deliver high-quality Prosecco to a large international audience, and further enhancing the quality and flavor of the estate’s impeccable collection. Today, Zardetto Prosecco is enjoyed from New York to Hong Kong, continuing the long and storied tradition of the Zardetto family for wine lovers around the world.LOCATION OF VINEYARDSThe Zardetto philosophy is steeped in the potential of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene hills, aiming to make sparkling Prosecco that truly emphasizes the characteristics of the beloved land. This requires a consistently high level of quality, from exploring new soil in search of unique characteristics, to a significant investment in technology. Fabio personally oversees the entire process, from the vine to the final customer, utilizing his rich knowledge of every hill and terroir in the Prosecco DOC to source the best grapes of the region.Zardetto Prosecco grapes are currently sourced from:

• Zardetto-owned vineyards in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG.

• Prosecco DOC designated for limited edition cru wines (86 total acres).

• Limited and exclusive vineyards utilizing special soil or unique terroir characteristics (collected and separately vinified).

• High-quality co-op wineries in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG hills (including the villages of Feletto, Ogliano, Carpesica, Rolle, Col San Martino and Santo Stefano di Valdobbiadene).

• The Prosecco DOC.

WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY
After collecting separate grapes from each vineyard with respect to the appropriate maturation time (depending on exposition, location, soil, etc.), Zardetto brings them to the winery where they chill and softly press them. The juice is then ready for fermentation and initial contact with yeasts. To create sparkling Prosecco, secondary fermentation is carried out in large pressured tanks called autoclavi, also known as “The Italian Method,” over a period of nearly 40 days. This process results in the characteristic flowery, fruity Prosecco taste. Once secondary fermentation is complete, the Prosecco is finally filtered and bottled.

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Laura Catena was born in Mendoza, Argentina. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1988 and has a Medical Doctor degree from Stanford University. She is currently general director of Bodega Catena Zapata  and her own Luca Winery in Mendoza, Argentina as well as a practicing Emergency Medicine physician at UCSF Medical Center in California and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Laura Catena has been called the “face” of Argentine Wine  for her active role in promoting the Mendoza wine region and Argentine Malbec. She has been named one of the top 25 wine innovators and has been an invited speaker at the American Society of Wine Educators, Decanter Wine Encounter, the Smithsonian Institute and the Vancouver Playhouse among others. Laura has also been a guest blogger for eRobertParker.com and The Huffington Post.

In 2010 Laura Catena released her book, Vino Argentino, An Insider’s Guide to the Wines and Wine Country of Argentina published by Chronicle Books, which has been reviewed extensively by press in the USA and Internationally. 

Name and Current Title/Role

Laura Catena, Managing Director, Bodega Catena Zapata

Q1: Please tell us about how you got into wine, the wine industry and how your career developed?

I studied Biology first at Harvard and then Medicine at Stanford. I grew up in Argentina before that. I'm the fourth generation of my family making wine. When my father started a revolution to elevate Argentine wine in the 1980's I realized that he needed my help and the rest is history. I started working in the vineyards, specially in viticultural research because it was my background. We were planting in new places where nobody had planted before such as the Adrianna Vineyard at 5,000 feet elevation, so there was a lot of studying to do. We also made the first ever selection of Argentine Malbec in 1995 when I founded the Catena Institute of Wine.

Q2: What is your winemaking philosophy; that is, what are you trying to achieve with your wines?

I am trying to make Argentine wines that can stand with the best of the world and are true to their individual terroirs.

Q3: Which varietal is your favorite to work with and why?

Malbec, because it has beautiful aromatics, density and an incredibly velvety mouthfeel. It also ages well.

Q4: What are the biggest changes you've seen in winemaking since you got started?

Less oak is being used, wild yeasts, dividing vineyards in parcels that are each harvested at their optimal times.

Q5: How do you see the future of wine production and what are the challenges and the opportunities?

The future is bright because wine is the most exciting food there is - it is different depending on the place, the variety and the producer that makes it. There is nothing that you can eat or drink that is more exciting or delicious than wine. And on top of this, it is good for your cardiovascular and mental health when consumed in moderation.

Q6: Where do you see the global wine market in 10 years?

We will be drinking less wine, but better quality wine. Hopefully the diversity of regions and varieties will continue.

Q7: What was your favorite family meal growing up and why?

Ricotta ravioli with my mother's homemade sauce on Sundays in Argentina and Asado - Argentine barbecue - at my uncle Jorge's house on Saturdays.

Q8: What would people be surprised to know about you?

That I am a really bad cook.

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