Caruso & Minini Naturalmente Bio Catarratto 2021
Price: $21.95
Channel: LCBO Vintages
Producer: Caruso & Minini
Country: Italy
Region: Sicily
Appellation: Sicilia DOCG
Grapes: Catarratto
Alcohol by Volume: 12.5%
Sugar Content: 8 grams per litre
Catarratto competes with Sangiovese as Italy’s most planted grape variety, and nearly all of it is in Western Sicily. Once a mainstay of sweet, fortified Marsala wine, the grape is being taken seriously as a dry wine variety as the island’s winemakers increasingly move towards fine wine. Fruit forward and expressive of terroir, Catarratto’s French analogue could be Chardonnay, and like that grape it’s versatile.
Naturalemente Bio means naturally organic, and the Caruso & Minini version is meant to be stripped down and essential: no oak, just fruit and a white flower bouquet. Then, a concentrated citrus fruit base in the middle and a sweet honeysuckle finish: this wine is fancy beyond its price and thoroughly moreish. Balanced enough to hold its own as an aperitif, but packing enough bright acidity to carry through a meal or fish, pasta or white meat.
I wrote more about this wine at The Hub here.
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