Tag: catarratto

Caruso & Minini 2022 Naturalmente Bio Catarratto

Before we get into the taste of this wine, there’s a lot to explain:

  • Caruso & Minini are the producers (I recently learned that the common last name, Caruso, means ‘boy’ in Sicilian)
  • Naturalmente Bio means ‘naturally organic.’
  • Catarratto is a native white grape of Sicily. In the white wines of Mount Etna (Etna Bianco) it’s the blending partner with Carricante. (If you’ve been reading my other Sicilian wine reviews, you’d have noticed that many of the higher-end Etna Biancos are 100% Carricante.)
  • Catarratto is actually the 2nd-most-planted white variety in all of Italy! So why haven’t you heard of it? Because most of it ends up in Marsala wine.

This was a bit of set-up: I wanted my wife to try Planeta’s 100% Carricante “Eruzione” 1614 (Eruption), but I wanted her to taste a much cheaper Sicilian white beforehand. And I figured for $20, it would be a nice opportunity to taste Catarratto on its own.

MY NOTES: This wine smells like a tropically-styled New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: pineapple, lemon/lime peel, even mango. But when you taste it, there is both an unexpected roundness and fullness (think Chardonnay) and much milder acidity than the nose suggests. This is a remarkable wine for the price, with sweet floral aromatics and a pleasing creaminess.

CRITICS: James Suckling gave this a 92. That’s an excellent $0.22/point, consistent with a very high-value wine.

“Aromas of waxed apples, grilled lemons, honeysuckle and praline. Some crushed stone minerality, too. It’s juicy and vibrant on the palate with fresh, fruity character and refreshing acidity. Medium body. Creamy and attractive. From organically grown grapes.”

CATARRATTO: I’d generally agree with the graphic below from Wine Folly…except that this particular Catarratto is absolutely full-bodied…like veering towards Fiano di Avellino full-bodied.

Conclusion: I’m excited to try some more single-varietal Catarrattos when we’re in Sicily!

Palmento Costanzo 2021 ‘Mofete’ Etna Bianco

My wife and I are about to take our first adults-only vacation in more than a decade.

We’re going to Sicily in January 2024.

I love my kids (two sets of twin boys: 14 and 11) but I can’t wait to leave them with their Grandma for a week.

To prepare for the trip, I’ve already read John Julius Norwich’s “Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History,” Robert Camuto’s “Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey,” and taken Benjamin North Spencer’s “New Wines of Mount Etna” online course. I’m also working my way through Bill Nesto’s “The World of Sicilian Wine.” I’m improving my Italian (yes, I know, Sicilian is different) and scouring Pinterest and other sites for unique experiences.

I can’t wait to get on that plane. And I couldn’t wait for the trip to try some Sicilian wines. A box of eight Etna Biancos, Etna Rossos and Cerasuolo di Vittorias just arrived from Wine.com today. So let’s begin the pre-trip tasting!

What is Etna Bianco?

If the volcanic peak of Mount Etna is the center of a clock, than the Etna DOC is a crescent of land that arcs from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m..

Etna Bianco DOC must have a minimum of 60% Carricante grapes, with the balance usually provided by its blending partner, Catarratto.

What is a Palmento?

You’ll see this word a lot in Sicily and on wine labels. Palmento is the name for the pre-industrial, gravity-fed, questionably-hygienic winemaking facilities that existed across Sicily a few hundred years ago. Today, you can’t make wine using an old-school palmento. But that doesn’t stop producers from tapping into the OG cred.

OK, enough showing off, let’s talk about the wine!

Palmento Constanzo is a major producer on the north slopes of Mount Etna. Their winemaking facility and tasting room looks amazing. It’s on my list to visit.

Their Etna Bianco ‘Mofete’ was a light golden color, with a nose of green apple and pear and no obvious signs of oak ageing. Acidity was medium-high. I don’t understand the comparison of Carricante to Sauvignon Blanc at all. It tasted rather like a Lugana to me (Trebbiano), fuller than a SB but certainly not as rounded as a warm climate Chardonnay. I don’t know enough about Catarratto to pinpoint its influence, but I later learned that this blend is 70% Carricante / 30% Catarratto.

Did the wine blow my mind? No. Was it pleasant to drink? Yes. Could I destroy two bottles of this with lunch? Absolutely.

I’m excited to try an Etna Bianco Superiore later this week. The rules are that a Superiore must be at least 80% Carricante and come from the contrade (districts) located near the town of Milo on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna.