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

Once again, we are breaking into the seriesof the grapes in this bottle came from vines
tasting wines from each of Italy's twentyover forty years old. The plants are grown as
wine regions. This article examines a nobleshrubs, a somewhat unusual practice. This
red wine from the island of Sicily inwine was aged for twelve months in French oak
southern Italy. It is very far from a bargainbarrels, about 60% of which are new. It can
wine. We were about a dozen to taste it. I'llbe cellared for years. I only wish that I
be presenting my opinions and those ofcould taste a ten or twenty year old Rosso
others.del  Conte.
So far, the wines that I purchased for thisI'll spare you the marketing materials and
series have cost a maximum of about $20. Ireviews that tend to be very laudatory. Here
thought that I should try one at about doubleare  the  comments  from  my  tasting  group.
the price. I felt that by going to a
relatively unknown region such as Sicily IA bit of black fruit. Highly oaked. Toasted
might get a bargain. A lot of wines from thegrains, toast, grilled barley. Nervous and
Tuscany or Piedmont regions of Italy cost $40wild. Garriga (a mixture of spices found in
or much, much more. Such is not the case forareas near the Mediterranean Sea). Leather,
Sicily.dried meat, musk, and underbrush. A strong
presence. Acidic and tannic, but not very
Italy's top of the line wine designation islong. Moderately long, fairly tannic. Round.
DOCG, which stands for Denominazione diMore  fruit  than  oak.
Origine Controllata Garantita (Denomination
of Controlled, Guaranteed Origin.) There areWhen asked to guess the price, the general
no DOCG wines in Sicily. But the formalconsensus was considerably lower than what I
designation is not very important, many Superactually paid. It's fair to assume that most
Tuscans costing at least twice my budgetof these people would not purchase this wine,
carry "inferior" designations. The wine Ieven if they do buy wines in this price
chose carries the Contea di Sclafania DOCrange. On the other hand, it's not hard to
designation, having been promoted from thefind reviews on the Internet that draw the
Sicilia IGT designation. The wine reviewedopposite conclusion. In fact, every review
here is produced by the same company as thethat I read was more laudatory than my
white Sicilian wine reviewed in my article Itasting  group  was.  And  my  thoughts?
Love Italian Wine and Food - The Sicily
Region. This was no accident. First I boughtPersonally, I would rather drink wine with
the relatively expensive red. Then I boughtfood than without food. There were only a few
the white wine for about one third the price.sips left in the bottle but I was able to
This white wine carries the Sicilia IGTsqueeze out two pairings. First I tried
designation, but I found it to be prettyslow-cooked beef ribs with potatoes and a
good. Let's take a look at its much moreside of green beans in tomato sauce. This
expensive  red  cousin.wine was the essence of mouth-filling, a tiny
sip enveloped my mouth with pleasure. The
Wine  Reviewedwine's acidity and tannins handled the meat's
fat.  If  only  I  had  more.
Tasca d'Almerita Regaleali 'Rosso del Conte'
Contea di Sclafania DOC 2002 15% alcoholIsola is a Sicilian fresh cheese made from
about  $38sheep's milk. The Isola cheese was powerful,
strong smelling and strong tasting,
About 35 years ago, Count Tasca d'Almeritaespecially when you crunched into a
decided to make a flagship Sicilian red winepeppercorn. The Rosso del Conte's richness
from two local grapes, Nero d'avola andand complexity was quite noticeable in the
Perricone. Nero d'avola is a thin-skinnedpresence of this cheese. I am glad that I
grape that ripens extremely late, perhapsdidn't waste the last precious sips of this
three weeks after Cabernet Sauvignon.wine  on  a  weak  cheese.
Consequently this variety is virtually
limited to Sicily. Some think that it is aFinal verdict. It'll probably be quite some
relative of Syrah. Nero d'avola wines aretime before I buy another bottle of Rosso del
usually dark and tarry, with lots of blackConte. I do think that it's worth the price,
fruit aroma and taste. They are rich and wellbut I can't say that I got a $100 wine for
structured, with firm and silky tannins. Manyless than $40. Have you ever done so?



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