8 relevant articles found, sorted by date.
Sicily: Where Great Wines and Lava Flow
featured, Italy: Center & South
, Aug 2019
Never before has the island of Sicily produced so many world-class wines. The most recent vintages in the market, 2017 and 2016, yielded a bevy of superb whites and reds.
Gianbattista Columbu Malvasia Di Bosa: 1992–2011
featured, Italy
, Feb 2018
Rare and unique, Malvasia di Bosa is an oxidative-style wine, like Sherry, but from Sardinia. Columbu estate, featured in Mondovino, is the top producer of Malvasia di Bosa. The estate’s Riserva is a wonderful aperitif and after dinner drink, but matches well with anything involving capers, smoked fish, honey, shellfish and olives.
Tasca d’Almerita’s Rosso del Conte: 1979 – 2012
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, Italy: Center & South
, Oct 2017
Rosso del Conte is an iconic Italian wine, one of the first to show that southern Italy could produce world class, age-worthy reds. Rosso del Conte was tinkered with, over the years (not always succesfully, in my view,) but is back to where it should be, showcasing the heights that Nero d’Avola (and Perricone) can reach in the right hands.
Sicily Continues To Progress
featured, Italy: Center & South
, Sep 2017
Two thousand sixteen is another good vintage for Sicily, with the Vittoria area especially exciting thanks to many outstanding Frappatos and Cerasuolo di Vittorias. Etna, Lipari and Pantelleria also shine - and keep an eye on new wines made with Perricone, a traditional red variety that is being rediscovered.
Feudo Montoni’s Nero d’Avola Lagnusa and Vrucara: A Definitive Tasting of Two Great Italian Reds
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, Italy: Center & South
, Sep 2017
I have always been awestruck by the purity and true-to-type aromas and flavors that owner Fabio Sireci is able to tease out of Nero d’Avola. Just as importantly, his two single vineyard Nero d’Avolas, Lagnusa and Vrucara, also showcase the characteristics of specific Sicilian terroirs. The two are absolute benchmarks of traditionally made Nero d’Avola wines.
Abruzzo & Molise: This Year It’s Reds Over Whites
featured, Italy: Center & South
, Jun 2017
The latest releases from the beautiful and generally underrated Abruzzo region demonstrate that the difficult 2016 vintage growing season was tough on white wines, but newly released reds from 2015, 2014 and earlier are not just good but in many cases outstanding. Improvements are afoot in Molise as well.
The Wines of Basilicata: Paradise Lost and Regained
featured, Italy: Center & South
, Apr 2017
The combination of the majestic Vulture volcano’s soil and microclimate and a world-class grape variety, Aglianico, should have ensured Basilicata and its wines worldwide fame and fortune decades ago. But it’s only now that a new generation of young winemakers is making fresh, precise, site-specific wines.
Donnafugata's Mille e Una Notte: 1995-2011
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, Italy: Center & South
, Dec 2016
Donnafugata’s Mille e Una Notte is one of Italy’s most complex and refined red wines, admirably showcasing the high quality Nero d’Avola can attain. My recent vertical tasting of every vintage released to date revealed many riveting bottles, still with years of life ahead of them.