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I Love Italian Wine and Food - Tasting A Noble Sicilian Wine

Once again, we are breaking into the series tasting wines from each of Italy?s twenty wine regions. This article examines a noble red wine from the island of Sicily in southern Italy. It is very far from a bargain wine. We were about a dozen to taste it. I?ll be presenting my opinions and those of others.

So far, the wines that I purchased for this series have cost a maximum of about $20. I thought that I should try one at about double the price. I felt that by going to a relatively unknown region such as Sicily I might get a bargain. A lot of wines from the Tuscany or Piedmont regions of Italy cost $40 or much, much more. Such is not the case for Sicily.

Italy?s top of the line wine designation is DOCG, which stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita (Denomination of Controlled, Guaranteed Origin.) There are no DOCG wines in Sicily. But the formal designation is not very important, many Super Tuscans costing at least twice my budget carry ?inferior? designations. The wine I chose carries the Contea di Sclafania DOC designation, having been promoted from the Sicilia IGT designation. The wine reviewed here is produced by the same company as the white Sicilian wine reviewed in my article I Love Italian Wine and Food ? The Sicily Region. This was no accident. First I bought the relatively expensive red. Then I bought the white wine for about one third the price. This white wine carries the Sicilia IGT designation, but I found it to be pretty good. Let?s take a look at its much more expensive red cousin.

Wine Reviewed
Tasca d?Almerita Regaleali ?Rosso del Conte? Contea di Sclafania DOC 2002 15% alcohol about $38

About 35 years ago, Count Tasca d?Almerita decided to make a flagship Sicilian red wine from two local grapes, Nero d?avola and Perricone. Nero d?avola is a thin-skinned grape that ripens extremely late, perhaps three weeks after Cabernet Sauvignon. Consequently this variety is virtually limited to Sicily. Some think that it is a relative of Syrah. Nero d?avola wines are usually dark and tarry, with lots of black fruit aroma and taste. They are rich and well structured, with firm and silky tannins. Many of the grapes in this bottle came from vines over forty years old. The plants are grown as shrubs, a somewhat unusual practice. This wine was aged for twelve months in French oak barrels, about 60% of which are new. It can be cellared for years. I only wish that I could taste a ten or twenty year old Rosso del Conte.

I?ll spare you the marketing materials and reviews that tend to be very laudatory. Here are the comments from my tasting group.

A bit of black fruit. Highly oaked. Toasted grains, toast, grilled barley. Nervous and wild. Garriga (a mixture of spices found in areas near the Mediterranean Sea). Leather, dried meat, musk, and underbrush. A strong presence. Acidic and tannic, but not very long. Moderately long, fairly tannic. Round. More fruit than oak.

When asked to guess the price, the general consensus was considerably lower than what I actually paid. It?s fair to assume that most of these people would not purchase this wine, even if they do buy wines in this price range. On the other hand, it?s not hard to find reviews on the Internet that draw the opposite conclusion. In fact, every review that I read was more laudatory than my tasting group was. And my thoughts?

Personally, I would rather drink wine with food than without food. There were only a few sips left in the bottle but I was able to squeeze out two pairings. First I tried slow-cooked beef ribs with potatoes and a side of green beans in tomato sauce. This wine was the essence of mouth-filling, a tiny sip enveloped my mouth with pleasure. The wine?s acidity and tannins handled the meat?s fat. If only I had more.

Isola is a Sicilian fresh cheese made from sheep?s milk. The Isola cheese was powerful, strong smelling and strong tasting, especially when you crunched into a peppercorn. The Rosso del Conte?s richness and complexity was quite noticeable in the presence of this cheese. I am glad that I didn?t waste the last precious sips of this wine on a weak cheese.

Final verdict. It?ll probably be quite some time before I buy another bottle of Rosso del Conte. I do think that it?s worth the price, but I can?t say that I got a $100 wine for less than $40. Have you ever done so?

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Wine Vin in the news

Shaking all over (The San Francisco Examiner)

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:38:56 PDT
SAN FRANCISCO ( Map , News ) - Last week, I wrote about bargain reds in the aftermath of tax day, so to be fair, this week I’m going to comment on bargain whites. As we head into warmer weather, I am sure many of you are getting into the mood for white wines. It’s exciting. White wine equals spring.

Women For Wine Sense - Celebrating Women in Wine!

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:05:07 PDT
Women For Wine Sense - Celebrating Women in Wine! April 21st, 2008 I consider myself a pretty open minded male of the species and having worked in the wine industry for a while, I have to say, it’s refreshing to see an event that celebrates all of the rising female stars in the wine industry. I attended the first Women for Winesense Grand Tasting last year in San Francisco, which honored Margrit Mondavi and Kathryn Hall. You gotta check out some of the speakers WWS has lined up for this year.

Two new wine shippers created in Napa, Windsor (North Bay Business Journal)

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:15:37 PDT
WINDSOR and NAPA – Wineries that want more options for selling wine directly to consumers or trade accounts have two new options.

Melissa and Doug Birthday Party Birthday Cake Toy Giveaway

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:42:47 PDT
Melissa and Doug Birthday Party Birthday Cake toy and one on my children’s book blog, One Book Two Book, for a Tessy & Tab Super Starter Pack. You can also follow the link to see a list of all the contests going on as part of the Bloggy Giveaways by the b5media Lifestyles Channel bloggers. Image source: LEGO Tags: Blog Carnival, blog contest, bloggy giveaways, girl legos, lego, Lego pink brick box, legos contest, legos toys, win legos Share This What a fun week we have on tap here at b5m

b5media Giveaways

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:18:17 PDT
There will be more giveaways going on throughout the week, so you may wish to sign up for our channel feed. Tree Hugging Family is conducting multiple giveaways Mothering Magazine Subscriptions - Big Green Purse Mother Earth’s Garden - Let it Rot! The Gardener’s Guide to Composting - Leapin Lemur and Penguin Puffs Simply Thrifty - Coupon Organizer- Life Fitness Premium Pulsating back Massager Offbeat Homes - Building With Awareness Guidebook on DVD Hankering for Yarn - Butterfly Earrings

Bloggy giveaways from b5Media’s lifestyle channel

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:19:33 PDT
What a fun week we have on tap here at b5media! Especially in the Lifestyles Channel! Many of our bloggers have worked on putting together some awesome prizes just waiting on you to win them! Here are some of the giveaways going on right now! There will be more giveaways going on throughout the week, so you may wish to sign up for our channel feed. Tree Hugging Family is conducting multiple giveaways Mothering Magazine Subscriptions - Big Green Purse Mother Earth’s Garden - Let it Rot! The

Lifestyles Channel Giveaways

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:08:52 PDT
Image details: Health Food Junk Food served by picapp.com The Lifestyles channel is participating in the bloggy giveaways this week. I’m not because I’m not going to be around for the next week and won’t be able to keep up on it, but check out what everyone else is doing and see how you can win! … Here are some of the giveaways going on right now! There will be more giveaways going on throughout the week, so you may wish to sign up for our channel feed. Tree Hugging Family - Mothering Mag


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People Wine | Petite Syrah

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