Grab our White Lotus Sicilian Kit filled with 3 of our favorite Sicilian wines. Also doubles as a great gift! Write-ups and Kit Card included.
Like the volcano he works on, Massimiliano Calabretta is a force to reckon with. A passionate, restless natural winemaker, he makes stunning reds, pinks and whites from all along the northern slopes of Etna.. His Carricante comes from some sites roughly 700m up the mountain, mineral as all heck, with smoky floral notes on the nose, and Anjou pear, stone fruit, and raw almonds on the palate. This bottle has a way of disappearing a bit faster than the others at our staff parties -- but it's also serious enough you’d be forgiven for actually pausing in between gulps to reflect on the magic you’d just downed.
2018 I Custodi Pistus Etna Rosso
We'e not in beach-y Sicilia anymore honey! We're on the north slope of Mt. Etna and growing grapes out here is not dissimilair to growing them on the moon (we imagine). I Custodi is a project from Mario Paoluzi. He brought in the Sicilian big guns to pull off his wildest Etna wine dreams which include watching over the indigenous grapes here and making serious wines from them. 'Pistus' comes from ancient albarello bush vines and its chock full of volcanic minerality, elegance and tension. Fresh and pure Etna Rosso aka spicy volcano juice. Chill it down, or not, and enjoy with some Bologonese.
2020 COS Frappato
Everyone Remembers Their First Frappato. You don’t need to have heard of it, or to know that it’s famed for being Sicily’s most ethereal red grape -- you just need to be a sentient human being, capable of experiencing pleasures both visceral and aesthetic. (Yes, aesthetic! Look at that color!) And starting here is like starting at the top. Giusto Occhipinti is the benchmark producer in Sicily's Vittoria appellation, and one of the most important producers in all of Sicily, if not Italy as a whole. Dried strawberries, roses, burnt orange peel, hints of leather, and a body that veers between light and medium, sometimes in the same taste. Tangy, crisp, mineral, deep and beguiling.
