Grape guide
Frappato
Frappato is the grape of Vittoria. It is no coincidence that our winery is on Via del Frappato. It is the most immediate voice of this land: fine aromas, red fruit and a freshness I love. Here I explain what it is like, how I make it and how I like to drink it.
A grape from south-eastern Sicily
Frappato is a red grape native to south-eastern Sicily, grown for centuries around Vittoria. It gives ruby wines, never too dark, with aromas of cherry, strawberry, small red berries and a marked floral note. It has fine tannins and plenty of freshness: an elegant, fragrant red that is a pleasure to drink even in summer.
Frappato in Cerasuolo di Vittoria
Together with Nero d’Avola, Frappato is the other half of Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Sicily’s only DOCG: Nero d’Avola brings colour and structure, Frappato perfume and lift. In my crus the two grapes grow in the same vineyard and are harvested together.
One grape, many wines
Frappato lends itself to very different interpretations, and I have tried almost all of them.
Frappato Vittoria DOC is the varietal red. The best lots of grapes ferment separately and spontaneously, with some whole bunches at the bottom of the tank; during pump-overs we remove as many seeds as we can, as they would give hard tannins, and at racking we keep only the free-run wine. On the nose cherry, blackberry, mulberry and flowers.
Osa! is the rosé. It comes from the most vigorous parts of the vineyards, picked by hand in the cool morning hours and a little earlier, to keep its freshness. The juice stays on the skins, cold, for 24 hours: a slow extraction that brings colour and aromas into the wine. Then it ferments spontaneously and slowly at a low temperature, and rests on its fine lees.
Mood is the sparkling rosé made with the ancestral method. We harvest early, for a fresh, lively and fragrant base; the pressing is gentle and we use only the free-run juice. The fermentation, spontaneous, finishes in the bottle, with no disgorging and zero dosage.
In Jazz, Frappato meets Nero d’Avola in a free-spirited red outside the appellation rules.
All my core wines are fermented in stainless steel: I want Frappato to reach the glass with its fruit and its flowers.
How to serve it
Red Frappato is at its best slightly chilled, between 14 and 16 °C; the rosé and the sparkling wine should be served well chilled. At the table it is one of the most versatile reds: it goes with fish soups and fried oily fish, grilled white meat and a young Ragusano DOP cheese.