Twenty-three mind-blowing wines of 2023

Chianti Classico Collection, Stazione Leopolda

Composing a year-end, these are the most thrillin’ wines tasted in the last 12 months list is kinda akin to scribbling up a little warble, if you get the director’s drift. The question begs, what’s the cause, what’s the meaning and ultimately why bother? Reminiscences are part of the human condition and while there is little amusement however in watching a wine critic taste wines, there just may be some interest in reading said list, checking it twice and coming to a personal conclusion as to which choices are worthy, and which are merely nice.

Nebbiolo Prima 2023

You will find a notable cadent shift in this year’s melody away from there being a substantial number of older wines chosen as having been the year’s most exciting. Not to mention a concentration of certain grapes and their OG places. It’s just, well, natural. For 2023 more of the choices are directed towards hopelessly romantic youthful wines in their extant moments still years away from entering their right proper drinking windows. No shortage of opportunities in 2023 to taste top examples – Of sangiovese, nebbiolo, nerello mascalese, nero d’avola, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, grenache, syrah, chardonnay, riesling, assyrtiko and chenin blanc – Are but a range within the lion’s share of varietal moments.

Sicilia en Primeur

Old wines can elicit epiphanies but a conscious effort is made to include as many current vintages as possible, provided they represent a winery’s best of the best. This is the state of winemaking today because deeper understanding, the consummate use of technology and a passionate willingness to always improve are qualifying so many of the world’s finest wines at poll positions to a greater degree than before. There is little surprise that Italian wines coexist in highest favour if only because the author spends more than 25 percent of a 365-day timeframe in that country. Italy’s long, deep and intimate relationship with success is a serious attraction and so being afforded the opportunity to taste 2,000 Italian wines in a calendar year will almost certainly result in experiencing no less than 50 thrilling examples. A Bordeaux trip in September to 25 growth properties could and should rightly deliver wines to dot this list. Same could be said for many other palate awakening wine regions worldwide. All this and yet overall travels and tastings were less diverse and more focused in 2023. The author is known to follow the work.

L’Etna, Sicily

Act one: Nebbiolo Prima. Act two: Two weeks later, the Chianti Classico Collection. Act three: Three months later, Sicilia en Primeur and a Canadian Sommelier boot camp with Chianti Classico. Act four: Summer in Paris with Lambrusco, judging at the Nationals in the Okanagan Valley for WineAlign, shooting video in Florence, up to Collio and Hungary and finally 113 degrees in the smoky shade of Washington. Act five: Europe all fall, from Bordeaux to Monferrato, Chianti Classico to Montalcino, Piedmontazine Alta Langa and back to Chianti Classico. These decisions are not taken lightly, nor are they apocryphal fabrications, but they are Godello’s 23 mind-blowing wines of 2023.

Coppo 1892 Piero Coppo Riserva Del Fondatore 2013, Alta Langa Riserva DOCG, Piedmont, Italy

The 2013 vintage is the turning point to this 60 percent pinot noir and (40) chardonnay becoming and being labeled Alta Langa, recently disgorged in 2022. Previous disgorgements were labelled Vino Spumante di Qualità. Now into wildly vivid and famous complexity, toasty yes but there’s a crème frâiche and an almost strawberries and cream component. Eonologists GianMario Cerrutti, Guiliermo Grasso and Vittorio Pescarmona conspired to see this age 85 to 90 months on the lees, almost unprecedented around Asti. Has hit its stride, in the right place between crunchy and the kind of sparkling wine that you begin to ruminate with in the mouth. Cerebral wine in every respect. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted January 2023

Hermann J. Wiemer Riesling HJW 2020, West Seneca Lake, Finger Lakes

Upper echelon aromatic stage presence, stoic and static as riesling must be if it wants to set a gold standard. Dry entry that sides and morphs into natural sweetness of peach and Forelle pear, almost lime cotton candy scented. From the original vineyard planted in 1976 closer to the lake where tender varieties excel. The elastic extension and tension together coexist as long as Seneca runs from the snow belt to Watkins Glen. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted April 2023

Vineyards of the Szent György Hegy, Balatoni

Gilvesy Rajnai Rizling Tarányi 2020, Szent György Hegy, Balatoni, Hungary

Old vines over 50 years of age (planted sometime in the 1970s), right below the estate, just nine rows and once belonging to the cooperative. Named after a landowner from the 1920s (or 30s) connected to the local governmental administration. Crunchy as only a Gilvesy rizling can be, lime doused, acids so bloody intelligent and making sure fruit is put into flight. Aged in steel, Austrian Stockinger cask and Flex-Cube. There is no doubt that the single vineyard Tarányi delivers a richer and luxe expression of rajnai rizling but also one of flint, petrol and scintillant emission. This flashes across the palate like a supernova and lingers long after the wine is gone. That is powerful rizling. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted July 2023

Vassaltis Gramina Cuvee Des Vignerons 2021, PDO Santorini, Greece

Of course 100 per cent assyrtiko, picked and collected between six and eight AM, straight into the press, stainless steel vinified, no cooling, no passing go, no collecting 200 drachmas. All about preserving essential freshness, finesse and elegance. Spontaneous fermentation, a year on lees, in bottle six months. It is right here where we are to understand why Yiannis Valambous gave up a life 14 years ago that was not focused on Santorini, chose to return and altered his history. Santorini once a place of summers spent without purpose or tension is now all encompassing, focused on assyrtiko and for good reason. It is the variety to which all white grapes now aspire. Gramina sheds distraction and focuses on purity and 2021 is a great vintage. It celebrates assyrtiko from where it thrives and conveys that all important message of place. After tasting the Vassaltis Cuvée Des Vignerons 2021 winemakers around the world will ask their farmers to plant the grape in the place where they are. They will do so because even a fraction of this excellence will be worth pursuing. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2023

Ulmo Chardonnay

Planeta Didacus 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

From Vigneto Maroccoli, The Didacus home where vines were planted in 1997 and 1998. The connection with chardonnay “Classico” is obvious but whole bunch fermentation and seriously selected oak barrels change the complexion and even more so the spice cupboard of this high caste wine. It may seem that Didacus would fare at its best in the warmest of vintages but it does not really need the extra sunshine and ripeness. Didacus gets there quite easily thank you very much and so the slightly cooler and more classic 2020 is ideal for a wine of exceptional depth and weight. Harmony is the result. Che equilibrio! Drink 2023-2028. Tasted May 2023

With Sarah Goedhart and Christophe Hedges

Hedges Family Estate Red Mountain Reserve 1999, Red Mountain AVA, Yakima Valley, Washington

The artist formerly known as Red Mountain Reserve became Le Haute Cuvée with the 2012 vintage. Hedges was both ahead of their time (because the word Reserve was already losing its wine world lustre) and respectful of family history by labelling in a Champagne or at least a French vernacular. Here is a nearly 24 year-old red blend that has aged remarkably well and though thinking miraculously was a momentary thought – there is no miracle but something more profound at play. The Mountain for one thing and a family at least a decade ahead of the curve. Early Washington organics, no reverse osmosis, no mechanical filtration and no lobotomizing a bottle of red wine. Yes the secondary notes are present and they are settled in a state of absolute proprietary grace. Very little trace of tannin, nor any barrel that is but a superfine mountain induction that makes for a silky feeling in the mouth. There is a chance this will live another 24 years but the fruit is already leaving and so 12 should be the maximum with half that the truest and most honest recommendation. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

J.B. Neufeld Cabernet Sauvignon Two Blondes Vineyard 2021, Yakima Valley AVA

From Justin and Brooke Neufeld who first bottled their cabernet sauvignon in 2008. “In my opinion the Yakima is the state’s most diverse terroir,” explains Justin. “By focusing on one variety it forces me to concentrate on the nuances of the sites here in Rattlesnake Hills and the Upper Valley.” A cooler clime for a less granular if also reduced austerity as compared to what comes from Red Mountain. Here the ridges run east to west and Two Blondes is as cool a site as there is the Upper Valley where the cataclysmic glacial lake outburst Missoula Floods peaked at 1,200 feet. Early concrete raising for a cabernet of place above all else, conspicuously aromatic with a whole helluva lot of things (and love) going on. Famously and indelibly connected to the winemakers who created it. A cerebral cab that makes you perk up, ponader and pay attention. The wood factor is quite present, the wine is so young and this feeling of delicasse, grace and repose are on the indigo horizon. Should take about three years time to get to a point of heartsease and another three to gain serenity. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted August 2023

Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon Trailside Vineyard 2008, Napa Valley, California

As Trailside Vineyard from Heitz will always do, is it the acid that is preserved. This was the case in both the ’06 and the ’07 but back in 2008 the aromatics were expressed in extra level florals, savoury elements and a charming layering of swarthiness. Five years of bottle aging before release plus nine more since have gathered the necessary elements and when you nose but then taste this wine you just know that it is Heitz, by style and out of a context that speaks to what the vineyard is want and purposed to say. Fine position, time and place right here, right now, ready, willing, able to please and without any moment of equivocation. Might just stay this way for another five, perhaps even ten years. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted October 2023

Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, Napa Valley, California

Opened after a near 20-year stay in the cellar and just a few days after tasting the 2010 and 2020 with Beth Weber Novak in Toronto. The vintage has not been considered as one to hold as long as either 2001 or 2003 but there can be no questioning this 2002’s longevity on this very day. Inventiveness without reinvention because this scents as fresh as it must have been at the essence of its very nascence. All that can be crushed to express in aromas for which imagination conjures berries, stones, clay and flowers. Spottswoode ’02 defines a Napa Vally posit tug between power and grace while existing in a controlled state of confidence and calm. A wine that gently, privately seduces the palate, body and mind into the gentlest slumber of our lives. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2023

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa Sopra Il Pozzo 2018

The southwest corner of Graci’s Arcurìa cru is Vigna Sopra Il Pozzo, identified as a most important block within a larger vineyard already qualified as something of great Etna Versante Nord value. Challenging season and every iota of energy captured and encapsulated inside a nerello mascalese of supreme freshness. The palate is the profound matter of this wine’s supreme expressive nature, with soft, graceful and subtly powerful tannins. An Etna Rosso that lays in waiting, not to pounce but to slowly and persistently keep hold of our attention. No density from Sopra Il Pozzo ’18 but compact layers of slow-release tension – and also energy. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted May 202

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC Piano Delle Colombe 2020, Sicily, Italy

Piano delle Colombe is a single block (or vineyard if you like) identified within San Lorenzo aged in tonneaux and barriques. Not a different take on the contrada but one that considers some rows of nerello mascalese whose separated vinifications have consistently performed well (and more often than not better) in many consecutive vintages. Concentration and hyper purity is incredulous, encouraged to the point of hyperbole by the vintage. Would say yet another Girolamo Russo ’20 that opens the floodgates of Etna Rosso fruit potential so that this waterfall of beauty crashes over the palate. Which in turn abides if only because it has no choice or else be drowned in fruit. Submit and be graced with a fineness of structure that can only feel the condition of greatness. Texture and finish are tops. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted May 2023

Il Poggio, Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Il Poggio 2018, San Donato In Poggio, Tuscany, Italy

There can be little doubt that Gran Selezione is the wine to explain style from a place within a place, that being Monsanto’s Il Poggio Vineyard inside the UGA of San Donato In Poggio. Il Poggio is four things; famous, respected, stunning and structured to design formidably age-worthy sangiovese. Stylistically speaking this Gran Selezione is so very different than Riserva because older-school austerity and unrelenting tannic structure keep fruit locked in tight while also interpreting place with pinpoint precision. But 2018 is a warm and accumulating vintage and so all things being equal there are strong determining factors for the fate of this place. Highly aromatic, tripping with light, energy and the science of the soils, of Galestro and schisty fragments that must be a part of the make up, from stones through vines and vines to fruit. This Monsanto Selezione smells like the place’s dust kicked up by heels and hands dragged through the dirt. With 2018 in bottle there could be an argument that San Donato in Poggio’s are some of the richest of all the UGAs, but this is Monsanto where destiny is all. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted February and May 2023

Related – 16 mind-blowing wines of 2016

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colonia 2009, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Tuscany, Italy

Colonia Vineyard is a short jog up the hill past Rancia and through the woods. In 1966 Domenico Poggiali found a cellar set into the “tufa” hills of his Fèlsina estate. It was small, built of stone and with a wide brick vault. It was a start. In 1967 he chose to plant Colonia in an impossibly challenging and extreme Alberese limestone rocky location. He used dynamite because that was the thing at the time but it was soon outlawed and made clearing the land near impossible. Twenty-four years later Giovanni Poggiali resumed the project and planted its first vines in 1993, just before Domenico passed away. Colonia 2009 is La Prima, the first Gran Selezione and this look back is one to recall roots (tethered to 2006), familial traditions and passing of the Chianti Classico torch. This vintage separates and leaves its original designations in the rear-view mirror. At 14 years of age it remains austere but austere can be beautiful. As here, with severe and chiseled features though the savoury elements differ from Rancia. More resinous evergreen and forested aromas but also a chalkiness that speaks directly out of the Alberese. The thing is Colonia remains still young and fresh, while the powdered mineral persists unresolved. One of the most fascinating retrospective looks at aged Chianti Classico. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted October 2023

Il Molino di Grace

Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2019, Toscana IGT

Gratius will make a very high quality Gran Selezione and the time is nigh to accord it the designation. All the qualities are inherent and intrinsic to the coming status, namely concentration, finest silken grains of texture and balancing tannin. Come now, the future is poetic and gracious. Last tasted October 2023

Choosing not to compare Gratius to Chianti Classico at any level, let alone Gran Selezione, is wise and for several reasons. For one thing the blending in of canaiolo and colorino changes dynamics by setting and settling acidity, elevating pH and stabilizing colour. For more reasons check out the manual but here are the Coles notes. Gratius delivers two-toned liquorice, more direct solar radiated brightness, finer and yet less immediately understood structure and a chewiness that sets it apart. What matters is here is that Gratius is the representative for the single San Francesco vineyard and so it is a profound IGT ready, willing and able to become a wine graced with the Gallo Nero and labeled as Panzano. Two new Austrian casks will conceive 3,900 bottles going forward and the future is all about DOCG quality at the highest appellative level. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2023

Isole E Olena Cepparello 2021, Toscana IGT, Tuscany, Italy

Paolo’s first tasting of this finished 2021 Cepparello since bottling back in May is this right here. The frost vintage, namely on April 7th, with secondary buds on the Cordone vines being the source of most of the wine’s fruit. Not a disaster at Isole e Olena, maybe 35 percent loss in total but the quality was high and so less Chianti Classico was made. “That wine is less about the vintage for us,” says de Marchi and so this as the decision made to cope with the small crop. Once again (and since forever) Paolo employs the aromas and proteins inducing method of soft maceration, long délestage and skins connected back with already half fermented juice. The ’21 is a wine of “frescezza” and yet saying freshness does not do the description justice. There is tension and a nervous energy buzzing from Cepparello 2021 and one to really hold your attention. There may be no Italian word for texture but were there one that made any real sense it might be the dramatic threads of “weft” from this 2021 youthful work in progress. This will be a Cepparello for the ages, Buy it and bank on it. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted December 2023

Related – 15 Mind blowing wines of 2015

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta Nuova 2019, Tuscany, Italy

Tenuta Nuova is something next level and you know this from the moment you put nose to glass. It consumes the senses straight away with its intoxicating perfume as deep as it is strong. Muscular in that regard and exponentially so at the intersection of palate and structure. The stuffing, intensity, power and layers are what we call “off the charts” and there are but a few vintages that create, instil and then leave this kind of impression. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2023

Conti Costanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Colle Al Matrichese 2019, Tuscany, Italy

Take a moment, reflect even before this has even begun, focus the senses and prepare for a long connection with a 2019 from Andrea Costanti. A Brunello di Montalcino that graciously requests full attention paid because vineyard, experience and vintage have taken no liberties as it pertains to what is the necessary requiem. Aromatic wealth void of force and punch without gratuity comes out of the glass like an apparition gliding through the halls of a medieval edifice. They are sweet, flowing and casually swift. The palate and mouthfeel are one in the same – in most wines made everywhere around the world this is simply not the case. Acidity is right and it is bloody correct – whatever that means but in this case it’s true. Costanti tannins are always their best self but then there are 2019 tannins which elongate with elastic ease, always stretching forwards and return they will though it is hard to say when that will happen. It just does not happen on the finish, which is something impossibly so. Who would not wish to be frozen in this youth, impeccably fresh, limber and athletic? May act this way with generosity and charm for decades. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted November 2023

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Tenuta Il Greppo 1988, Tuscany, Italy

It is very important to be reminded that Biondi-Santi is the original but also the estate that practiced early harvesting before just about anyone else. At the time the sangiovese grosso vines from the estate BBS11 clone (mainly intended for Riserva) would have been 25 years of age and while considered then and also now as a great vintage it is worth noting that in 1988 the final alcohol was 11 percent. When the estate style is reflected upon there is just something about the continuity which begins with the 1980s and especially the 1985 forward to the later part of that decade, all the way through to 2018 more than thirty years later. Yes there is in fact a connection despite the gap, the huge change in climate and the challenge to maintain identity. The last point is key because the contiguous teams focus on this ahead of all else. The ’88 now shows dried red fruits but also the wild strawberry and then frutta di bosco that are the hallmarks of an older Brunello that has not fallen over into the porcini and truffle zone. Not Biondi-Santi because wood was never the axis nor the focus and fruit was always carefully selected before being gently coaxed to arrive at this kind of secondary level. No matter the age the style persists as fresh red fruit, with fine acids more than alive and a specific succulence specific to place. Il Greppo the estate – which means the people abided by their charge to preserve this heritage. The original endowment of Montalcino. Respect. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Related – Mind blowing wines of 2014

Cantina Del Pino Barbaresco DOCG Ovello 2017, Barbaresco, Piedmont

The 2017 is part of a life’s work and now legacy defining Barbaresco by Renatto Vacca of Cantina del Pino who three years ago was lost to the nebbiolo, Barbaresco, Piedmontese and Italian world, but most of all to his adoring family. For now and wishfully forever there is Aldo Vacca of Produttori del Barbaresco who will not just transition but consult in perpetuity to this great estate. In the meantime Renatto’s 2017 Ovello from the Grand Cru vineyard overlooking the Tanaro River is sumptuous, silken textured, fruit maximized and elegance incarnate. Easy to be romantic in this situation but also wistful and somber – yet the wine speaks so clearly and emphatically it’s all that matters at this very moment. These are complete, distinct and forward carrying tannins to take Ovello ’19 deep into this and well further through the next decade. Solo cose belle Cantina del Pino. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted January 2023

Pio Cesare Barolo DOCG Ornato 2019, Serralunga d’Alba, Piedmont

Tasted with Cesare Benvenuto in Alba from the Serralunga cru and a vintage of round fruit set against a backdrop of understated if surely intense tannin. A year for which a winemaking team had to reset and not push anything too hard, lest there creep in notes of volatility and astringency. Jam as well and the report on Ornato by Pio Cesare speaks nothing of these things. A softness in the beginning and also a state of grace with the force of structure waiting in the wings, respectfully and knowing now is the merely the time for introductions. Some fruit from 1947 planted vines takes part in this nebbiolo play and the rest seem to follow, fill and support, dutifully in the tradition of this menzione. Though those vines are hard to define in how they affect overall concentration there is the unspoken aspect of experience and strength. Of character which leads to probability to say this Ornato will live long and prosper for decades. Another stunner from the world of Pio Cesare. Drink 2026-2039. Tasted January 2023

Cavallotto Tenuta Bricco Boschis Barolo Riserva DOCG Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe 2017, Castiglione Falletto, Piedmont

Not entirely sure why there is a need or desire to show a Riserva 2017 from a cask sample but frankly this feels ready to be in bottle. The aromatics are resolved, the fruit laid in a state of preparedness and the nebbiolo character intact, with tact and in display of its varietal guarantee. No other 2017 exhibits this much acidity and while some might see it as edgy to verging on volatile, the reminder is this. Bricco Boschis, Castiglione Falletto and an old school soul for Barolo that will outlast them all. What a glorious Barolo, without holes and one hundred percent in charge of its emotions. Ours submit to the character of this great nebbiolo. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima, January 2023

Château Troplong-Mondot Premier Grand Cru Classé 2019, Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, France

First vintage where the malolactic fermentation was done 100 percent in tank before being racked to barrel. Some simultaneous spontaneity overlapping with alcoholic fermentation but more often than that there will be control to have them happen one after the other. The fact that 35 percent of the vineyards at the top of the hill are filled with the hardest clay anywhere in Bordeaux, coupled with limestone all over creates the most mineral quotient around. This transmits as contained and controlled power, especially from the generously wooded 2019 but my goodness the saline freshness, chalky quality and silken tannin wrap up the fruit with a ying-yang of nurture and grip. Whether you are familiar with, an expert on or just arriving at a Troplong Mondot Grand Cru Classé for the first time – it just doesn’t matter. This 2019 will blow your mind. Drink 2025-2039. Tasted September 2023

Château Les Carmes Haut Brion Grand Vin De Graves 2018, AC Pessac Léognan, Bordeaux, France

Extremely different vintage but not like ’17, here with much darker, riper and developed fruit. Freshness would have to have been a challenge but at 13.5 percent alcohol and high pH there comes this ulterior freshness with texture imposed by great and forceful will. More active infusion earlier on because there was so much colour and extraction on hand from a vintage where the blend was nearly the same as that of 2017. That being 38 percent cabernet franc, (35) cabernet sauvignon and (27) merlot. There really is no other chateau that creates this style, a mix of salt and pepper seasoning over blue to black fruit and in 2018 the whole bunch inclusion was 60 percent. If you are buying high end Bordeaux from 2018 then Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is the place to be, though it’s likely sold out wherever you may live. Just about nothing else in the Left Bank finds this level of quality, balance and success. The whole bunch “infusion” methodology controls the heat and excess of the vintage to deliver finesse, precision, restraint and honesty. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted September 2023

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Sicilia en Primeur Part Two: Icons and Archetypes

Oct31

Isola Bella, Taormina

The 2023 edition of Sicilia en Primeur was held in the second week of May, culminating with tastings, masterclasses and dinners in the extraordinary seaside hilltop village of Taormina. The annual event is made possible by Sicilia DOC, Assovini Sicilia and AB Comunicazione. I spent the better part of five days visiting producers aboard L’Etna, followed by tasting through many more of the mountain’s wines by way of the Assovini and AIS Sommelier assisted table-side service. During the Anteprima one of those absolute masterpieces of a masterclass was held during which 11 of Sicilia’s greatest wines were poured. In addition to those reflections here are my notes on 33 more wines tasted with Feudo Montoni, Azienda Agricola Cos, Serra Ferdinandea, Principe Di Butera and Planeta.

“Questione di Stile – Icone del vino Siciliano,” with Fabio Rizzari and Giampaolo Gravina

Planeta Chardonnay 2018, Sicilia DOC

Planeta loves a challenge and 2018 presents such a problem but great wines are born in the face and of and by facing of adversity. Wines that age, including a bread and butter chardonnay and so this 2018 is a poignant choice for a Masterclass on Sicilian icons. Questioning why a wine made in this quantity would be like wondering why Château Pontet-Canet or Ornellaia should be chosen for Bordeaux or Tuscan seminars. They are the place and Planeta’s track record speaks for itself. There must be freshness and wood effected structure. There has to be salinity and sapidity, spice and a blessedly elastic lees contract between fruit and texture. Generosity just has to be balanced by tension. Eccoci. Planeta with chardonnay, for the longest time now a truly Sicilian thing. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted May 2023

Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Pietramarina 2016

Persistently taut and stoic Etna Bianco with the six-plus years forward emergence of flint and light paraffin smoulder. Just now into these secondary notes though still very much a wine in detention of original freshness. Compact, especially with respect to acidity and if overall just a bit lean there is no doubt that Pietramarina as a contrada is well represented and spoken about in a language correct, precise and understood. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Bianco Superiore DOC 2013

Yet another Etna from 2013 well into its tenure but showing with more than a moment of original freshness. Barone di Villagrande’s surely shows more maturity than some others and the substantially rich fruit is impressive considering the cool vintage of no real exceptional climatic disturbance. No doubt this drinks like a well aged carricante-based Bianco and there is really nowhere for this wine to go. That said the beauty is in this glass, golden, buttery, ready and finishing at a sapid point with the notion of lemon crème brûlée. Tasted May 2023

I Palari Faro DOC 2014

High-toned, dusty, balsamic now very much in stride. A Sicilian red in the ways of tradition but also akin to so many Italian wines of ancient stylistic ilk. Fruit is no longer the point or the heart of Faro’s 2014 matter but the vintage told us as much from the beginning. Maturing with haste and because we are privy to tradition there is beauty in what is learned. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Classico 2010

More than fully mature obviously, but what has disappeared is less important than what has beed gained. A truly fascinating tisane caused by the natural reactivity and elemental transformation between nero d’Avola and frappato. Dried orange and carob, pomegranate and rooiibos, then a palate swagger that truly grabs attention. Though calm, evolved and earthy aromatically speaking there is so much more dynamic activity in the flavours. Terrific showing for a wine of this age. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Firriato Nero d’Avola Ribeca 2008, DOC Sicilia

If any expectations would imagine this Ribeca to be past prime and falling off a cliff well they would not be correct. Dusty and acetic? Yes. Aromatics truly a reflection of wood aging? Absolutely. More than this however because like other structured reds from famous wine regions made at a time when barrels were everything (think Rioja and Bordeaux), the stylistic works the same type of thread. Graphite, dried red currants, tar, chocolate mint and balsamic. All these notes play an old world symphony so soothing to people who yearn for such antiquity. So yes, iconic. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted May 2023

Tasca d’Almerita Rosso Del Conte DOC Sclafani Bagni 1999

Few Sicilian reds can age like Rosso del Conte. Full stop. Case in point full of great hyperbole is this 1999 from Tasca. Twenty-three or four years notwithstanding there is some fresh (original) fruit in pulse still carrying on with more than ample structural parts keeping the shape of the wine alive. Yes the earth and the climatic conditions of the warm vintage are essential notions of a red blend and all parts speak clearly, succinctly and in an arch classic Rosso del Conte vernacular. Truly Sicilian, worthy of any and all accolades thrown its way. A pleasure and a privilege to be afforded a glass. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Rapitalà Cielo d’Alcamo 2017

Wildly aromatic passito equipped with all the marmalata, coulis, confiture and granita that could be gathered in a concentrated dessert wine. Lemon, orange, apricot and fig, the yellows, oranges and greens to present the entire spectrum of local fruit but one so specifically exotic to Sicily. Chewy, viscous and then this savoury diversion in vanilla and carob. Highly complex specimen and one so very grounded in tradition. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted May 2023

Donnafugata Ben Ryé Passito Di Pantelleria 2016 (375ml)

The highest echelon of aromatic Passito for Sicilia has to be Ben Ryé, a super saturated, concentrated and island specific dessert wine of its very own accord. A wine intrinsically tied to Pantelleria, inimitable and residing at what must be named as brilliance. Winds represent the particular composite, marine air are the resolution for grapes gifting unparalleled sweetness made harmonically whole by equal and opposing forces. Acids of course but also intensities unnamed and undefined. Exotic fruits of course but it is balance and potential that truly dictate Donnafugata’s 2016 Ben Ryé Pantelleria Passito. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted May 2023

Pellegrino Marsala Vergine Riserva DOC Nº 167 Single Barrel 2001

Single Barrel means penultimate selection and focus for Marsala and if the concept might seem contradictory to the usual appellative exercise then just put a nose into this glass. Explosive, enigmatic and what those in the know would likely call allucinante. An indelible stamp of place from a wine so dry, tannic and immovable it can be imagined to live not just another 22 years but at least 22 or 44 after that. Richessse and structure, part dessert and part fino style, flavours that linger for minutes. Rare and inspiring. Drink 2023-2045. Tasted May 2023

Florio Marsala Semisecco Superiore Riserva DOC 2001

Marsala is many things and as Semiserio Superiore Riserva the level of richness and complex accumulations makes this a most gastronomic dessert wine. Sweet yes though beautifully fresh, filled with fruit and flower aromas, more fruit, nuts and distillate flavours, all tolled and agglomerated as something so hard to follow. Meaning there is so much happening on both the nose and palate it seems impossible to keep pace. Then there are the added aspects of what wood aging brings and the package is simply extraordinary. Wraps up an iconic tasting with flying colours. Drink 2023-2037. Tasted May 2023

With Feudo Montoni’s Fabio Sireci and Melissa Muller

Feudo Montoni

Feudo Montoni Inzolia Dei Fornelli 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Fornelli (the oven) is the name of the cru, of clay soils on the only western facing slope. Fabio Sireci’s is one that raises the bar for a grape so used to be blended, but this variety grows in the middle of nowhere, of its own biotype, unlike the well-known inzolia. The white grapes grow on the higher reaches of Montodi’s slope and they soak up the radiance, expand and flesh out, achieving a compactness of fresh fruit with fine acidity. Warm vintage, registered as some of the highest temperatures in Europe, ever. But healthy vines and this biotype survived and made great wine. It’s the place and it’s in the hands of Sireci. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Montoni Catarratto Masso 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Catarratto (and inzolia) are the children of a grape that came from Calabria and by now the biotype is Montoni. Cool and gelid Catarratto, silky for the grape and in fact this is a very vinous example. Also affected by the warm season, more sun and richness than before but always in balance. As here. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Montoni Grillo Sicilia DOC Timpa 2022

We must remember that grillo was created in Provara as a cross between catarratto and moscato zibbibo in the 1860s just 20 kilometres from Montoni. And yet in grillo there is the citrus, so much more so than either inzolia or catarratto and the grape is shall we say, “less Montoni” than the others. That said it’s a greener hue and aromatic type where as the rest of the island is more so “yellow.” Still as grillo there is more substance, cool freshness and layered acidity. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Montoni Nerello Mascalese Rosé Di Adele 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Not that nerello mascalese is rare but here we are with Rosato and a richer Montoni because ripeness happened well and also early in the vintage. Still so beautifully pale and salty, taut as per usual and yet gifting more fruit than stone. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Montoni Lagnusa Nero d’Avola 2021, Sicilia DOC

No worries about a warm vintage because Fabio Sireci’s Nero d’Avola vines grow in one of the healthiest of environments on ideal soils. Freshness is the finest and so real, with succulent acids and such a groove for a wine of substance, history (both genetic and familial) and experience. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Montoni Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC Vrucara 2019

The museum vineyard with the oldest of genetic Nero d’Avola material and a really special vintage for this arch historic Montoni wine. The richest set of succulent circumstances, all the way through and though fruit is as substantial and full as it has ever been, while the other parts are just about as impressive. The depth is important, as is the way this nero breathes in and out. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Montoni Nero d’Avola Terre Di Elio 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

Named after Fabio Sireci’s father and now his eldest son, a nerello mascalese that Elio loved, not a competition with Etna but the preservation of a grape with the history of a place. Sees no wood, only aging only in concrete, maintaining freshness and this special piece of Montoni. The vines are just about the same age as Vrucara’s nero, and here as the child of Calabrese sangiovese there is red cherry, fresh leather and savoury verdancy that is truly distinctive. Floral and naturally sweet, neither stony nor meaty but like great caponata, with a saltiness like small caper and light black olive. Such a beautifully subtle wine. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Montoni Perricone Core 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

Related to garnacha…or not so much but at Montoni it is picked last, in late October or early November. A grape that must be “pinched,” between the branches and the bunches, to stop the flow of water, an almost light-lite example of appassimento done the vine, for concentration and varietal appeasement. Quite viscous, a bit musky, chalky and of a structural style that is nothing like nero d’avola. Certainly more like grenache than cannonau and you have to tame the fruiting, like a wild horse because it wants to run free. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos

Azienda Agricola Cos Metodo Classico 2009

The experimental phase ran from 2009 and 2016, tasting along the way and then in 2019 the decision was made to create a sparkling wine program whereby aging on lees would be 18, up to a maximum 24 months. This however is one hundred percent frappato, of no tirage, disgorged in 2022 so essentially on the lees for 12 years. This is the first vintage and not an easy wine to make considering the temperatures are still quite high at harvest time. Traditional method and at the time no skin contact, meaning it passed through a pneumatic press. The bubble comes through on the palate after a really quiet beginning and to say this is settled without being overtly mature would be a real understatement. Current release. Like the Dalai Lama, “the flowing robes, the grace, bald… striking.” Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Clasisco DOCG 2020

Always 60-40 nero d’avola and frappato, fermented in concrete and aged for a year in really old barrels. A truly balanced vintage with no heat spikes or too much rain. Classic Cos volatility, exactly as expected, reigned in by sweet acidity and an unadulterated truth. A bit too much it must be said, perfect for those who relish in these sorts of desires and challenging for those who do not. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos Rosso DOC 2019

From a vintage of declassified Vittoria fruit because it was just too hot, an excessive heat, lowering alcohol and raising acidity. Seems counterintuitive but truth is this does ride with high activity, major lift and tonality. More frappato than nero d’Avola works well, to be honest. Extreme savour, fruity enough but really verdant and wild. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2018

A fresh and cold harvest with some rain at pick time and a challenging time overall. A really lovely, chalky-waxy 60-40 nero d’Avola-frappato mix that keeps lift and volatility in check. Distinct Cerasuola and yet closer to the norm, whatever you want to decide that may be. As elegant and suave as a Cos Cerasuolo can be. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2016

Dry vintage, not particularly hot but this would not necessarily be discussed in cool ways. Holding well, closer to 2020 in style and temperament than 2018, likely to live longer but the volatility is in charge. The palate is where the Brettanomyces is noticed – but it too is manageable. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2013

A warm vintage and for much of Sicily a truly surprising one. A vintage of great longevity seemingly everywhere and across all spectrums of varieties and styles. Here as Cerasuolo with nero d’Avola and frappato the relationship between the two is near equal and they are in symbiosis this time around. Cleaner than the vintages to come, showing with restrained force, elegance and energy. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2010

Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo Di Vittoria DOC 2000

Showing every minute of its age in a wise, delicate and sottosuolo way. The earth is wet and humid, peaty and as a textural wine the fruit is silk threaded through the acidity, which is in fact remarkable. Yes it’s quite oxidative but the energy and dried fruit qualities are more than intriguing, but also inviting. Tasted May 2023

Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo Di Vittoria DOC 1999

Clearly another warm vintage, more or less the same or less than 2000 but there is more freshness from a season “worked more in an normal way.” Liquorice, rhubarb, wild strawberry, soy, carob and all dried, desiccated, implosive, acids still sharp enough and oddly some lingering tannin. Fascinating really. Tasted May 2023

Serra Ferdinandea

Serra Ferdinandea Rosato 2022, Sicilia DOC

From the two red grapes grown on the property, syrah and nero d’Avola, 70 and 30 percent and while it is obvious that the family’s connection would be to the south of France, this Rosé seeks more than that. Now in the third vintage and things have certainly changed with a wine of more phenolics and also structure. À point, timely and what strikes as a Rosato that speaks to you but does by needing to make a statement. No aggression or tension but yes subtlety in the context of restrained power. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Serra Ferdinandea Bianco Sicilia 2022, DOC Sicilia

Mix of 50-50 grillo and sauvignon blanc, for now the only two white grapes and making up a third of the 17 hectares total. The most recent planting was 2021, the first back in 2015. All about freshness and salinity with just a bit of wood thanks to 25 percent, none of it new. The wood is present by only in subtle and oscillating tones on the mouth. Some phenolic presence yet again, not overdone or even remotely aggressive. A bit buttery at the finish, graced by piquancy and the sort of scorrevole that drifts slowly away. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Serra Ferdinandea Rosso Sicilia 2022, DOC Sicilia

Equal parts syrah and nero d’Avola, straightforward, clean and with the idea being to make the purest iteration that exults two very important grapes. Increasing the concrete involvement though this is all done in wood with subsequent vintages to go in that cemented direction. Already croccante so imagine the freshness and crunch going forward. Purple violets, light chalkiness and what feels like sandy soil-effected freshness. Piquant and toothsome. Delicious. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

With Irene Milazzo of Principi di Butera

Principe Di Butera

Principe Di Butera Nero d’Avola Metodo Classico Rosato Extra Brut

Not labeled as such and this is the first vintage release but the vintage is in fact 2019. Twenty four months on the lees and this being the beginning to introduce the wine but subsequent vintages that will likely age longer. Extra Brut so right around 6-7 g/L with explosive acidity so the balance is spot on. Orange and lemon, no pith and less bitters to speak of. Really clean and good length. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Principe Di Butera Nero d’Avola Metodo Classico Rosato Pas Dosé

From the 2018 vintage and so 36 months on the less without any added dosage at the time of secondary bottling. Pure nero again and no skin contact so essentially a blanc de noirs. Surely different than the first iteration that was tasted four years previous. This really shows how successful it can be to make a dry sparkling wine and still have fruit, acid and body all share the same harmonious space. Really fine and successful. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Principi Di Butera Insolia Sicila DOC Séro 2017

“I love you,” in old Greek. Varietal inzolio picked in the second week of September under a full canopy that protects the fruit from too much sun and potential oxidation. Half and half steel and wood, quite fresh and spirited considering the vintage (hot and dry) and the age (five-plus years). Made in a reductive style and then aged on the fine lees so two methods have protected the wine from oxidation. Even the hue is clear platinum. Lovely showing for a wine that should be past prime when it is in fact fresh and frankly delicious. Last tasted May 2023

Seró is 100 per cent insolia, a selection of finest limestone parcels subjected to a very cold and extended maceration. Table sorting selection eliminates the smallest and least effective berries and then, a soft crush. Certainly an increase in texture and ripeness with both phenolic and sugar/alcohol but still comes across as the leaner, less tangy and oxidative style typical of winemaker Antonio Paolo Froio’s directive. Also an increase in tropical fruit aromatics. The aim is for a certain amount of longevity and this should extend three to four years though more than five would be a stretch. It’s a trial and the curiosity factor is one full of intrigue. Drink 2018-2020. Tasted May 2018

Principe Di Butera Insolia Sicilia DOC Carizza 2022

Caress, Carizza, a delicate touch and this is the concept. Freshness incarnate, cool and gelid. Like lemon and elderflower granita. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Feudo Principi Di Butera Nero D’avola Sicilia DOC Deliella 2016

The top drop for nero d’avila and the reason for growing, studying and developing Sicily’s most important grape. Grippy and from a most ideal vintage, especially for the grape and this label. Freshness and now wood subsiding to reveal so much more than just that fruit. So sultry and smouldering, a wisp of smokiness, violets all over and a piquancy that carries the fruit for a minute or more. Easily five if not up top 10 years left at a high level of crunchy freshness. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted May 2023

Principe Di Butera Coriduci Passito, Terre Siciliane IGT

In Sicilian dialect the translation is sweetheart which is surely apropos for a sweet Passito made only with moscato giallo. Marmalata and succulence in a wine of great surprise, lemon curd with only just mild zesting and yet very much exotic, with kumquat and passion fruit. Definitely a cheese wine. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted May 2023

With Planeta’s Patricia Tóth and John Szabo

Planeta

Planeta Metodo Classico Carricante 2019, Sicilia DOC

Vintage dated, disgorged in February of this year, 28 months aging on the lees. Holds the the citrus cards of no other Sicilian fizz, implosive, inwardly intense and striking a match on flint. Marches on the palate with obvious trenchant purpose and refuses to give up the protest. Nor should it allow the mouth to relax because there’s a revolution and a party going on. Ten years in the making since the carricante of Sciaranuova first burst onto this scene. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Planeta La Segreta Il Bianco 2022, Sicilia DOC

Intense June and July with dry heat but August settled down and the weather cooperated through harvest. That lovely fresh lemon that squeezes juiced energy through the entirety of tasting this Bianco. Not complex but fucking delicious. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Planeta Bianco Alastro 2022, Menfi DOC

A mix of 85 percent grecanico and (15) sauvignon blanc. Changes gears from La Segreta and allows complex notions to fly in, unhindered and undeterred. Lemon and pistachio gelato, savoury and dry. This is also flicking delicious. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Planeta Grillo Terebinto 2022, Sicilia Menfi DOC

It may be grillo but Terebinto is more stoic and serious than Alastro and so do not sleep on Planeta’s work with this workhouse grape. No one else coaxes this much compaction and compression of energy out of flowery grillo. The tension is palpable. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Planeta Fiano Cometa 2021, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Cometa takes every iota of sunshine from 2021 and converts to energy in ways that really have not been noted before. A specialized Bianco sealed at the edges by a progressive winery’s efforts to ensure its latest vintages are in fact their best. Three years in wood, two sizes of Botti Grandi. Part richesse and part searing intensity that meet right at the middle where piquancy and harmony are known to exist. Cometa 2021 does exactly this. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023

Planeta Chardonnay 2021, Sicilia DOC

In Sicily there are some wines that do the yeoman work and carry the weight of a producer’s world but none do so at the quality and also quantity levels like that of the Planeta chardonnay. The 2021 is obviously one of the more substantial and impressive examples of this arch classic Planeta wine that really is the centre of its Menfi universe. For all five Planeta estates in fact and know that you can count on this varietal wine whenever times might feel hard. Age ability is a five-letter word – spelled C-H-A-R-D. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted May 2023