From Sicily, Reds Worth the Hunt

From Sicily, Reds Worth the Hunt
Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York
Bright, floral and harmonious, with an attractive tension between bitter and sweet flavors.
Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York
Lively and flamboyantly fragrant, with savory, smoky, energetic fruit flavors.
Partly, it’s a result of a new, energetic generation of wine producers who embraced the island’s indigenous grapes at a time when many regions
were looking past their heritages to capitalize on the world’s taste for international grapes like chardonnay, merlot and cabernet sauvignon.
In many ways this played to the strength of these Sicilian producers, who specialized in agile reds with invigorating acidity, particularly those producers around Mount Etna on the eastern part of the island
and those around the town of Vittoria to the southeast.
To get a better sense of what was happening in this part of Sicily, the wine panel
recently tasted a selection of blends and wines that showcase the frappato grape.
Importer: Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, N. Y.
Lively, graceful and balanced, with bright cherry and herbal flavors.
Similar in spirit, however, are the wines from the Vittoria region, generally made of a blend of the frappato
and nero d’Avola grapes, though sometimes of frappato or, less often, nero d’Avola alone.