2016 Valle Dell’Acate Il Frappato

Region: Ragusa < Sicily < Italy
Grapes: Frappato
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming; black, compact calcareous clay soil with white pebbles; stainless steel ferment and aging; low SO2 added at bottling; 13% ABV
Winemaker: Gaetana Jacono 

From the Jacono family estate on Sicily’s southern tip, where they grow grapes (native varietals only) and blood oranges, organically, and do everything by hand. The region is rich by no means – not only are are jobs are few and far between, the terrain is mountainous, the soils parched and stony, with intense summer heat and low rainfall. These conditions are tough for agriculture (and the economy in general), but actually a perfect storm for grapevines, who need to suffer to be beautiful. And beautiful this wine is – exotic and feminine, with rose petals, violets, bright cherry and clove, and a core of rocks. Like a sexy, spicy hookah in a boho Moroccan desert camp, your hand-loomed, camel wool blanket just barely cushioning the hard, rocky ground below. Fabulous on its own, but also a great match for tuna steaks, calamari/octopus, eggplant or pretty much any veggie dish.