Category: Italy

2023 Varvaglione Susumaniello Salento

Another Susumaniello adventure from time spent hanging around the Salento bit of Puglia that’s worth a few words maybe. This very pretty labelled bottle came to the table from a small but nicely stocked enoteca found in among the winding alleys of old seaside Otranto. The label neatly shows most of the delicious things local to the area including octopus who thoughtfully seem to have enough legs to keep me fed. A couple of years rest since bottling seem to have rounded but not diminished those rich red fruited Susu flavours. A note of nutty naturalness sits comfortably with that deep and very ripe pomegranate tang together with a sweet spicy earthiness. Licorice, cinnamon and fruit chocolate seem a reasonable explanation of the flavours too. Soft and velvet rubbed the wrong way tannins keep the scales from tipping. A lovely, just right, roundness seems the import, not too much of anything, not too little. Comparisons can be a bit silly when the point of the expedition is to find local difference but they can help us understand maybe. So, if pushed, perhaps a bit like one of those fresh, deeply purple Spanish Garnachas, particularly Tintorea or a very ripe Bierzo Mencia sort of gets there but there’s more fat here. The maestro of Italian wine grapes, Dr. Ian D’Agata, suggests Susumaniello means load up the donkey in dialect due to historical high yields but the recent revival seems more about flavour and pleasure.

14% alcohol. Diam. €15.

93 distinctively local points.

2025 Azienda Candido Casina Cucco Susumaniello Salento IGP

It’s a joy to find another really interesting variety rescued from an almost fatal decline, particularly in the heat of Puglia which is already facing warmer summers. In fact us humans have managed to disrupt even the benign and fertile Salento beyond unbearably hot summers. Catching the train across from Calabria, the number of dead or dying olive trees was noticeable, particularly as Puglia produces so much good EVO. It seems a nasty bacterial infestation is responsible which was introduced by importing infected coffee plants. All is perhaps not lost, as there seems to be a couple of resistant varieties but it’s yet another limit to some traditional diversity. Anyway back to grapes grown in what was Magna Grecia where wine and oil have been a part of life for millennia. This bottle was a delicious adventure in terms of both flavour and structure. The former rich and ripe with pomegranate, dark cherry and a sooty depth of full blown ripeness but not the dried grape skin thing that seems to inhabit Negroamaro and other locals. The shape was a succulent surprise. Quite strong but what feels like naturally soft and well bound acidity and velvety tannins, all adding an unexpected freshness. After trying some local Calabrian reds made from Gaglioppo and Magliocco which from limited sampling always seemed to be acidified to a purple toughness or rusty from elevated ph, this Susumaniello was a breath of right grape, right place fresh air. A couple of weeks exploring Italy’s lovely heel and searching for Susu became a mission. It seems to make good rosato too, double delicious. The holiday apartment even had a pottery donkey to support the idea Susumaniello means load up the donkey.

13.5% alcohol, nice compared to some of those local rocket fuel Primitivi. Diam which seems to have overtaken Nomacorc by some way in the south. €12 bargain

92 points.

2025 Pellegrino Il Salinaro Grillo

While Etna Bianco will always be my favourite wine from La Bella Sicilia, the round comfort and sea salty cut of Grillo from out west seems to be yet another way to enjoy the dolce vita. This one from a Marsala producer is a surprisingly fine version, some can often be a bit too ripe and broad or too green and propped by some sweetness. Not this, like one of the new Jerez Vino de Pasto, there’s great definition to yellow fruit, sweet grassy hay, all made delicious by some saline refreshment. A bit of treble by way of almost a jasmine and orange blossom top note too. The label doesn’t lie, it’s that sea salty breeze thing that finally gets you coming back for more. To coax such balance from such a hot climate is quite something. Perhaps not the most intense or concentrated of things, or the sheer class of a good Etna Bianco but a perfect first glass as the golden hour of yet another timeless Mediterranean sunset melts the day’s worries. Great value to boot. Italian pun, no.

13% alcohol. Diam. Found for €9 in a supermarket, amazing.

92 points.

2023 Martinico e Figli Frappato Terre Siciliane IGT

Time flies by and it seems there’s no posts since the end of March. When you’re not paying much for WordPress’ basic and it must be said pretty clunky site, it doesn’t help the lack of motivation. Nonetheless if you’re lucky enough to be spending some time back in the fascinating and gently hedonistic town of Trapani on the western tip of la bella Sicily, then it’s probably a good idea to note a bottle or two. What better than to anticlimax a new review with a bottle you’re unlikely to find outside the few square kilometres of the provincia itself. Close to the ancient sea wall of old Trapani is an alimentari or deli run by a passionate man who I think gave up running a supermarket to open a small business to enjoy selling things of real quality from the local area. At least, that’s what my very limited Italian grasped. Some good cheese, piggy things, olives and a sort of tapenade were all excellent, as was this bottle of one of my favourite Sicilian red grapes. The label suggests it’s made from a vineyard of only 1700 vines. A kilo or two per vine probably means only two to three thousand bottles, not exactly Yellow Tail. Nevertheless, what a delicious drink. Utterly clean, pure and just moderately extracted, there was loads of raspberries and cherries anchored by some lovely powdery soft tannins and bright acidity. Underscored by a rattle of earthy goodness, like sweet organic soil. All of a piece, no jangling and sort of like a cru Bojo for want of a better comparison. The other bit of the label says something worthy in Italian I think

If you find yourself in Trapani, the lovely man running La Deliziosa will cheerfully offer a few tastes of cheese and good things. A picture of him below, stolen from googlemaps.

The same tiny producer also makes a cracking Grillo which I reckon shares a rich but tightened by texture similarity to Palomino from that other sea salty place in Spain.

13.5% alcohol. Diam. €20.

93 points.

2022 Allegrini Valpolicella

Well over thirty years ago when I first realised Italy made some very interesting and tasty wine, there were only a few DOCs and even less DOCGs available and not many breakaway Vini di Tavola purposely ignoring the rules. Simpler times that made learning easier, particularly as there were only a few producers from each of the better known DOCs whose bottles had something a bit extra. Valpol, as we knew it, had perhaps only two labels that consistently excited this novice, Allegrini and the great Quintarelli whose Classico is now over $250 a bottle in Australia. When this came up at auction, I thought it would be fun for old times’ sake to have a bid. Nobody else was interested which is maybe indicative of Valpol’s fashionability? Well, I’m happy to say it maybe old fashioned but Allegrini’s version is still delicious in that gentle and mouth watering way I remember it. Nicely clean and perfumed with red cherry fruit and that dark chocolate accented earthiness that marks the Verona bit of the Veneto for me. Barely medium bodied, it’s that deliciously fine acidity and talc powdery tannins that can make Valpolicella special. There’s a gentle balance of fruit and succulent texture that seems to mark Corvina from those huge canopies of vines. It’s far from a blockbuster wine of dramatic impact and high scores but it’s delicious and true to its place. Nice trip down a cobwebbed memory lane.

13% alcohol. Screw cap, good idea. $28 auction.

92 points. But much more about place and texture than simple numbers.

2022 San Giusto a Rentennano Chianti Classico

A favourite producer over the last twenty years or so that always seems to make beautifully clean Sangiovese from what are obviously great grapes. No difference here. Pure clean Tuscan Sangiovese full of savoury hedgerow berries, if they have hedgerows in Tuscany? There’s also more Italian cherries, the slightly sour sort and loads of almonds mixed with a handful of walnut. Sweet leather smells too. The structure is impeccable, firm ripe tannin that sweetens with food and the sort of blood orange acidity that points to perfect ripeness. Oak’s an afterthought and spotless. There’s a gentle aristocratic air about lots of Tuscan estates. This one makes wine to match that feeling. Can’t think of a Chianti I’ve enjoyed more.

14% alcohol. Diam. $35 at auction.

94 points.

2021 Monte Benardi Tzingarella Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

A possible treat and maybe a risk as it’s from a natural leaning producer and who knows how it’s been looked after before putting up for auction. A blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Colorino, I suppose it’s what we used to call Super Tuscan last century. From vineyards in Panzano’s famed Conca d’Oro I think, sort of Chianti grand cru? There’s some odd idioms in the English language, one of them about a curate’s egg which seems to have come from an old Punch cartoon and has stuck in usage for something that’s good in parts. This is indeed good in some ways and a bit off in others, but puzzlingly enjoyable. The dodgy things first, volatile even beyond my own inability to notice and a whiff of the old plastic smelling band aid. The good, extraordinarily tasty fruit, just ripe and of beautiful mineral crispness. The cool reserve of old style Bordeaux perhaps? Fresh juicy cherries, sweet but a little tart just like the beauties in season in southern Australia at the moment. Red currants and fresh blackcurrant too. No hint of jam or sugary over ripeness. Pleasing drag of dusty, in a good way, drying and very fine tannin, well meshed to fresh acidity that maybe just gets a touch too tangy to end. Somehow makes another sip inevitable to see if it’s too much, perhaps yes, maybe no. Wabi sabi as it’s so well put in Japan.

14% alcohol. Cork. $32 at auction, good hunting I think.

Barely a score in technical terms, 93 if you ignore the warts.

2021 Brovia Dolcetto d’Alba Vignavillej

Good wine is so much better when the it’s shared. If not at the table then swapping a few bottles can work well if you’ve scored a multi bottle auction lot and want to spread the fun. The bottle came my happy way in return for something I can’t remember but can only hope was as good. About as tasty as Dolcetto d’Alba gets, this opened clean and fresh but a little reticent. A good swirl and there’s all that thickness of sour dark cherry and kirsch good Dolcetto does well, ripe but no undue sweetness. Perfectly weighted ripe acidity and tannin, full of that Langhe stony character, float all that goodness to the point of refreshment. It’s easy to see why the Piemontese value Dolcetto like this as the thing to brighten their already delicious food. Sure, Nebbiolo can make you ponder its complications but sometimes straightforward pleasure is more fun, particularly when it’s so much of a place. What a swap.

14% alcohol. Diam. Swap.

94 points, particularly if points are for place and focus.

2016 Vigneti Boveri Giacomo Freisa La Cappelletta Colli Tortonesi

Another label for the train spotter boy in every old man wine lover I reckon. Shame I managed to get the photo out of focus as it’s one thing this wine doesn’t lack. A string of Italian names that probably mean little to most except the venerable Piemonte hound looking for value. This got a great review on The Wine Front, that most entertaining of sites. An essential resource when browsing the auction site. A few years in bottle have done nothing to interfere with the cheerful bite and depth of great grapes here. Loads of just picked dark cherries and that amazing rockiness that comes in layer after layer. Touches of woody herb and black olives. Great measures of brilliant fruit and contrasting geological flavour, assuming it’s possible to taste such things. Not hard to see Freisa’s part in parenting Nebbiolo. Shame it was my only bottle. In Piemontese terms of value these days, a bargain.

13.5% alcohol. Cork. $55 RRP.

95 points, it’s that good.

2022 Baglio di Pianetto fermata 125 Etna Bianco

One last Etna Bianco bought in Sicily and not exactly chosen by any great knowledge about the producer but because the label has a picture of a favourite train. At first glance it seems the maker was founded by a wealthy and noble entrepreneur from Vicenza who put his money where his palate told him, a winery just south of Palermo. Their production seems to focus on the usual Sicilian varieties from around the hills south of that chaotic city. I was a bit surprised to read on the back label that this bottle was in fact made for them by Cantine Valenti who were also responsible for the Deco supermarket bottle just posted, at about half the price. Just like the Enkelados bottling, this has the same deeper colour and extraction without adding weight. The same build of flavour and cut of Etna acidity but certainly a notch or two up in the fruit quality. Poised yellow fruits and flowers with a bit of hazel nut and white chocolate. Open over three days, there was again a weird echo of white Burgundy, with a very different texture of course, that fine pumice like acidity that’s got me hooked. A rich version but still balanced and no wobbles. Wasn’t expecting Etna Bianco to be my favourite Sicilian drink but it is now. Fresh pomegranate juice is pretty good morning option though. Enough antioxidants to clean up all that indulgence.

13% alcohol. Diam. €18.

94 points.