Tag Archive for 'italy'

Palmento – A Sicilian Wine Odyssey

Published on March 31, 2013 in General. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

PalmentoA Sicilian Wine Odyssey, by Robert Camuto.  RRP is now £13.99 for the paperback version, but you can get it delivered by one of Amazon’s partners for around £11.00.  21cm tall and around 300 pages.

It is not a big book, not on glossy paper, and it does not have colour pictures. So don’t buy it to leave on the coffee table to impress friends.  Also, do not buy it if you expect a reference book on the wines of Sicily.  The author visits some 20 producers, but you do not get a neatly arranged set of pages on each one, with a description of the winemaking philosophy, list of wines with tasting notes,  table of statistics, and photograph of the owner or winemaker with his dog. 

All the information is presented in terms of a chronological description of the author’s visit to each place over the course of a year.  You also get to hear about the journey between some of the wineries, and there is even one chapter were he did not visit a producer at all.  You learn about the history, landscape and people of the island, and but it is all through the personal experience of the author and his interviews with other people.  The same applies to the wines – when he tastes or drinks a wine he sometimes describes them, but you never get anything that approaches what you would call a tasting note.  Nevertheless, while claiming no great expertise, he seems to understand wine well, and I find it easy to relate to what he has to say.

Personally I find many wine books rather tedious, and this approach is very refreshing.  However, without the support of the conventional wine book framework, the success or otherwise must largely hang on the quality of the author’s writing.  In my opinion, Camuto writes very well and the book is very successful.  In particular, I appreciate the directness of his style when describing people and wines.  He can be brutally honest but rarely, if ever, judgemental.  You can boo, hiss and cheer along as you read about the people he visits, but I wonder to what extent you would be agreeing with what Camuto really thinks.

Cos Nero di Lupo and Frappato

Published on February 28, 2012 in My tasting notes. 0 Comments Tags: .


As a fan of Cos Pithos, when I heard that the Didsbury branch of Carrington’s had a range of Cos wines, I was down there within the space of a couple of days, and bought myself a couple of varietal bottles that could be viewed as a deconstructed Pithos – 2009 vintage I suppose.  And three days after that I had polished off both wines, one per dinner, over the space of two days.

Azienda Agricola Cos, Nero di Lupo, Nero d’Avola, Sicilia IGT, 2008, 12.5%, £16.50
Palish garnet.  Intense, fresh, juicy dark fruit, with a sharp edge.  Some cinnamon spice.  Funky.  Tad reductive initially, but a double decant and a few hours got rid of most of that.  Medium high acidity.  Dry.  Lowish tannin – but mouth waters so much it is difficult to tell.  Excellent length.  Sharp finish.  Great to drink now, but no hurry.  Very refreshing.  *****

Azienda Agricola Cos, Frappato, Sicilia IGT, 2010, 12.5%, £15.50
Pale garnet.  Intense, fresh and juicy.  Raspberry and blackberry.  Reminds me a bit of some Friesas I have had.  Also a minty eucalyptusy note.  Like the Nero di Lupo, possibly a bit reductive, even after a double decant and a few hours.   Medium high acidity.  Dry.  Lowish tannin – but, again like the Nero di Lupo, mouth watering.  Excellent length.  Sharp minty finish.   Great to drink now, but no hurry.  Very refreshing.  More one dimensional than the Nero di Lupo, perhaps due to the age, but perhaps simply because it is a simpler wine. ****

I think you get the general message about these wines.  There were both beautifully light, refreshing, juicy and mouth watering – characteristics I also remember from the Pithos, but perhaps they were more in evidence in these varietal wines.  I think you also understand that I like the style very much, but I can see how they might not appeal to everyone.  I think I preferred the Pithos, which I remember to be more nuanced and sublte, perhaps as much due to the winemaking as the blend of grapes.  Pithos is, for example, fermented in amphorae and I presume the Nero di Lupo and Frappato are not.

So next time I am passing Carrington’s I will grab a 2010 Pithos :)

Duck, Amarone and the Zeni wine museum

Published on January 23, 2012 in General and My tasting notes. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

When scanning through the list of wines I have in my Liebherrs looking for a match for confit duck, I really had in mind a Pinot Noir, Beaujolais or Riesling.  I also fancied that a top Alsace Pinot Gris with good acidity might fit the bill, but I knew I had no such thing.  However, I stopped when I found this Amarone as I thought it would be worth a punt.  I was pleased with myself for being so imaginative – then a bit miffed to find Google telling me that Amarone is quite commonly paired with duck.  I had no idea.

What a match I thought I had discovered!  It is quite rare these days that I am so wowed by a particular wine-food combination.  The hefty body of the wine matched the weight of the duck pound for pound, the intense fruit aromas worked as a cherry sauce for the simply reheated confit duck, and the marked acidity and astringency refreshed the palate admirably.  Here’s my tasting note:

Vigne Alte, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, Zeni, Museo del Vino, 2004:  Medium garnet.  Intense deep cherries and spice, with a touch of maturity on the nose that came out even stronger on the palate.  There was also an edginess to the nose – it was not soft and round.  On the palate, medium high acidity, and sweet fruit.  More astringent than most wines I drink, but not harsh.  Excellent length, with fruity spicy finish.  The wine carries the 15% alcohol well.  Good now, but I think this might continue to improve for several years.  In all aspects this goes well with confit duck.  The Euro equivalent of £14.00 direct from the producer in 2008, and I see Tanner’s are now selling the 2007 for around £30.  *****

I am not sure why it says “Museo del Vino” on the label, but sure enough Zeni do have a museum at their premises just outside Bardolino on Lake Garda.  Here is an exciting grape drying rack in the museum.
Seriously though, I remember it as being more informative than most wine museums and it is well worth a visit if you are in the area.  They also have a large tasting area in the same building. A prior appointment is certainly not necessary, and when we were there I seem to remember the cheaper wines were free and self-service from a machine, whilst there was a modest fee for the better wines like this Amorone.

Hmm… maybe they put “Museo del Vino” on the label to get some free publicity.