When many consider Sicily, the biggest island within the Mediterranean Sea, windswept seashores, considerable sunshine, Greek ruins and genuine delicacies come to thoughts. As for me, ideas of wine are initially! Sicily is especially identified for its dry wines from Etna DOC and simple ingesting purple and white wines. However there are extra. Sicily has 1 DOCG, 23 DOCs and seven IGPs that at the moment are producing wines of upper high quality as a substitute of bulk mixing wines of yore. It has 293,000 acres below vine (probably the most winery space of any Italian area), though its manufacturing is lower than half of Veneto. Wine continues to be principally IGP, however with the creation of Sicilia DOC in 2011, it represents about 30% of manufacturing. There’s a lot to find about wines from Sicily and only recently, I turned enchanted with Donnafugata Ben Ryé 2019 Passito di Pantelleria DOC Sicilia, despatched as a pattern.
Picture Credit score: Italian Wine Central
The #ItalianFWT group of meals, wine and journey lovers are kicking off 2023 with a plethora of discoveries from Sicily and hyperlinks to everybody’s articles are discovered after this. Should you’re so inclined, be a part of the group on Fb on Saturday, January 7 at 8am Pacific time for what guarantees to be an lively dialog on Fb stay. We’ll be speaking all issues Sicily (however principally wine, after all) on the group’s Fb web page, ItalianFWT. I hope to see you there.
Pantelleria DOC
In my wine journey by way of Sicily, with a view to be taught extra about Donnafugata Ben Ryé, I discovered Pantellaria DOC, situated on a volcanic island of between Sicily’s southern coast and Tunisia. It was established as Moscato di Pantelleria DOC in 1971 and renamed in 2013. The winery space covers 988 acres as of 2019 and manufacturing averages 97,400 instances per 12 months. The principle white grape is Zibibbo, grown nearly solely in Sicily (95%). Often known as Moscato di Alessandria (Muscat of Alexandria), Zibibbo is a member of the massive household of Muscat and an offspring of Moscato Bianco. On the nostril and palate, notes of apricot, orange blossoms, ginger, dried herbs are intense. In candy wines, Zibibbo expresses parts of orange marmalade, caramel, fig and dried raisins.
The phrase “zabib” is Arabic for “raisins. Karen MacNeil writes in The Wine Bible, 3rd version that “the grape might have been given this extra identify in the course of the rule of Arabic-speaking Carthaginians from the sixth to 3rd centuries BCE. Attributable to Islamic legislation, it was, on the time, planted just for desk grapes, not for wine manufacturing. Zoday, Zibibbo is primarily used for the scrumptious dessert wines Moscato di Pantelleria and its extra well-known, advanced sister Passito di Pantelleria.”
In 2014, Pantelleria turned a UNESCO World Heritage Website as a consequence of its conventional agricultural apply of cultivating head-trained bush vines. Grapes thrive in gentle winters with little or no rain and windy summers. Altitudes vary from 20 to 400 meters above sea stage and soils are deep, free, sandy soils rife with minerals. The cultivated land is especially on terraces. Because of the rising circumstances in Pantelleria, Zibibbo, skilled as a sapling, is ready to focus a big quantity sugars and develop a large amount of intense aromas.
Donnafugata in Pantelleria DOC
It’s at all times a pleasure to open a bottle of wine from Donnafugata. The vineyard is guided by the fifth era of the household and has “revolutionized the fashion and notion of Sicilian wine on the earth.” The identify alone not solely signifies scrumptious, inexpensive wine, however represents the Italian island that has now turn into acknowledged as a producer of world-class wines. The main target at Donnafugata just isn’t solely the manufacturing of outstanding wine crafted from the most effective grapes doable, however to advertise the attention of Sicilian wine produced from quite a lot of terroir all through the island. At the moment, Donnafugata has 461 hectares of vineyards in Contessa Entellina, Vittoria, Etna and Pantelleria.
In Pantelleria, Donnafugata has 68 hectares of vineyards inside 16 districts and 5 hectares of olive groves. “Vines are cultivated with a really low pantesco saplin on small terraces bordered by dry stone partitions in lava stone (UNESCO World Heritage Website). This requires a really excessive use of labor, about 3 times the typical want of a quality-oriented winery, to not point out the upkeep of about 40 km of dry stone partitions.” (quote from the web site of Donnafugata) It’s no surprise, then, that the wines produced are simply as distinctive as they’re magnificent.
Terraces in Pantellaria – Picture Credit score: Donnafugata
Donnafugata Ben Ryé 2019 Passito di Pantelleria DOC Sicilia
Donnafugata Ben Ryé 2019 Passito di Pantelleria DOC Sicilia ($37 for a half bottle) is produced utilizing passito, whereby Zibibbo grapes are dried on straw mats (the normal technique) previous to vinification with a view to allow larger sugar focus. Fermentation takes place in chrome steel and dried grapes, de-stemmed and chosen by hand, are added to the recent should in a number of batches. Throughout maceration, the dried grapes launch their signature aroma and sweetness. This vinification course of lasts over a month and growing old takes place in chrome steel for 8 months adopted by growing old for at the least 12 months within the bottle earlier than launch.
Belief me once I say that this charming, candy wine is one which I’ll search once more! Gold with threads of amber within the glass, the nostril was intense with notes of fruity apricot, candied orange peel and herbs. On the palate, I discovered extra herbs, honey and golden raisins and an ultra-satisfying end. With residual sugar of 194 grams/liter, Donnafugata Ben Ryé 2019 Passito di Pantelleria DOC Sicilia is a lush, candy wine that pairs superbly with chocolate cake, dry pastries, ricotta tart, blue cheeses and even foie gras. Serve it round 55 levels Fahrenheit and uncork on the time of serving. And don’t neglect to pour a second glass.
Cheers! ~ Cindy
For extra Sicilian wine discoveries, try the next hyperlinks from my #ItalianFWT colleagues.
