Tag: wine

The wine of the week: Etna Bianco 2018 Planeta – Italian Cuisine

On the northern side of Etna, art and culture meet a white wine that tells the Planeta family's passion for the different territories of Sicily

"He enjoyed pouring on the ground and dispersing the water of science under the eyes of those who were thirsty." This is the 20-meter light installation that today adorns the Sciaranuova cellar by Planeta. The work, created by the collective Claire Fontaine, is dedicated to physicist Ettore Majorana, who as a boy spent his summers in family estates, placed right next to the company of Passopisciaro. We are on Etna, the Sicilian area that in recent years is witnessing a real renaissance of its viticulture, with almost a thousand hectares of vineyards planted and a hundred producers who have invested here, coming from other parts of Sicily, such as the Planeta, but also from outside the region. The artistic installation is just one of the reasons for a visit to Sciaranuova: in July, in fact, the fifth edition of the festival dedicated to contemporary dramaturgy, with shows in the vineyards. And then, of course, there are the wines.

The Planeta family began looking for vineyards on Etna in 2008 and in 2012 it built the winery on the north side. The property is developed to the south and north of the town of Passopisciaro: to the north, at an altitude of 800 meters, there is the Sciaranuova vineyard with ancient houses recovered and now used for hospitality, which also include a beautiful millstone; to the south, near the Feudo di Mezzo vineyard, the modern lava stone cellar has been built, inserted into the landscape in a suggestive way; to the Etna estate are added then those of Menfi, Vittoria, Noto and Capo Milazzo, where some labels are produced which have become icons of Sicilian viticulture of the early 2000s, such as the Santa Cecilia, a Nero d’Avola of the Doc Noto.

On Etna, the Planetas produce seven labels, divided into two lines, with the crus, called Eruzione 1614, outside the Doc. Very representative of the territory and their wine-making style is the Etna Bianco 2018, a Carricante in purity from grapes grown between 690 and 720 meters, in the area of Montelaguardia. It is a wine which, with its generous aromas of ripe fruit, such as peach, plum and prickly pear, also conquers the less experienced palates, but which is able to seduce even the most demanding drinkers with its depth and the nuances of almond and balsamic herbs. When tasted, it is sapid and refreshing, with a slender minerality that makes you think of Etna even when it is uncorked thousands of miles away.

Why now: it is a fresh and savory wine that is very good with fish recipes.

As did: the grapes are harvested in the first decade of October; after soft pressing, the must is racked and ferments for 85% in steel and 15% in tonneaux. It remains on the fine lees until it is bottled at the end of March.

To combine with: shellfish, tartare and fish carpaccio, seafood first courses, fresh cheeses.

Serve it at: 8 ° C.

Price: 14 euros.

planeta.it

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Back to Menfi Inycon, the oldest Sicilian wine show – Italian Cuisine

Begins Friday Inycon 2019, the oldest review of Menfi wines, to learn about the products of the vine but also to appreciate all that this wonderful land has to offer

They could only be the vestiges of ancient Greece to welcome in the territory of Menfi Inycon 2019, the oldest review of wine in Sicily. The town in the province of Agrigento, the home town of the most exciting Greek architectural memories, will live a dense moment of culture, art, wine and food, starting from Friday 21 June until Sunday 23. What better time than the summer solstice for celebrate quality viticulture but also culinary excellence, art, culture and music? In Menfi, producers, writers, artists and farmers will take turns in the three-day event to show the public the best of this lucky corner of Sicily. "The great protagonists of Inycon 2019 – explains Mayor Marilena Mauceri – will be the districts of Menfi, custodians of the tradition, hospitality and culture of these lands where peasant wisdom, developed through technological innovation, has reached levels of excellence in the wine and agri-food sectors. Inycon 2019 will be a great collective party that will see all the people of the Contrada gathered together to celebrate and share with the public beauty of this happy corner of Sicily, whose most authentic expression is represented by the peasant community, the faces of the country people and its food and wine products ".

Wine, land, sea

Wine tasting, theater performances, debates and conferences on sustainability of the reception of Menfi will be the unmissable events of this three days in which all knowing how to do this corner of Sicily will be laid bare. As stated by Nadia Curreri, Councilor for Tourism, Sport and Culture, Productive Activities and Crafts of the Municipality of Menfi “We are very proud of the program of the new edition of Inycon. After more than twenty years, in fact, the event has entered the calendar of summer Italian tourist events not to be missed, so much so as to be a powerful and effective territorial marketing tool that sees the whole community cohesive to reach a common goal: to illuminate and to make visible all the merits of the Menfitana identity and its territory ".

Virtuous example

The payoff "Memphis and the colors of his land" accompanies the logo of Inycon 2019 and contains the new vision of the event that is proposed as model of virtuous tourism and fly for the entire economy of the territory. A center to which all the virtuous actions that make Menfi and its lands an irremissible experience to live not only in the summer, but in every season of the year, converge and then radiate.

Inycon – Memphis and the colors of its land (21/23 June 2019) For the detailed program: inyconsicilia.it

The wine of the week: Valtellina Superiore Vigneto Fracia 2015 Nino Negri – Italian Cuisine

From a cru from the sub-area of Valgella, a great red that tells the territory, focusing on elegance and the ability to challenge time

Going along the SS38, which leads from Switzerland to Lake Como, one cannot help but be enchanted by the spectacle of the Valtellina vineyards. Thousands of kilometers of dry stone walls welcome and contain the Nebbiolo grape plants, here called chiavennasca, clinging to the sides of the mountains and exposed in full South: this work by peasant engineering, developed in Roman times, has characterized the valley for over two thousand years. Walking through the vineyards is the easiest way to understand what the expression “heroic viticulture": The slopes are extreme, the works must be carried out almost always without the help of the machines, the heat in summer is hellish (not for nothing one of the sub-regions of Valtellina is called Inferno).

The most important and representative cellar of the denomination is undoubtedly the Nino Negri, inaugurated in 1897, enlarged in the sixties by Nino's son, Carlo Negri, and today owned by the Italian Wine Group. Guided for 40 years by the Trentino oenologist Casimiro Maule, "inventor" of the iconic 5-star Sfrusat wine, it is today run by the Piedmontese Danilo Drocco and produces about 800,000 bottles a year. To the 31 hectares of property there are added 120 worked by historical contributors, who go on to compose a truly impressive heritage of vineyards for the territory. But if you had to choose just one place to represent the company, you would have to reach the sub-area of Valgella, in the easternmost sector of the denomination, where the Fracia vineyard, the first purchased by the Negri family. It is a real one 10 hectare cru (of which 7 are from Nino Negri), facing south, at an altitude ranging from 350 to 500 meters. As in the rest of the Valtellina, the strong temperature changes between day and night and between winter and summer and the constant action of the Foehn alpine wind ensure the optimal environment for the maturation of the chiavennasca grape, which is harvested here in October, when it reaches a slight over-ripeness. With these grapes the Valtellina Superiore Vigneto Fracia is produced, one of the most elegant and territorial reds of Nino Negri: drunk in youth, it is able to seduce with its aromas ranging from violet to rose, to plum, enlivened by spicy notes that recall the clove, but if you have time to let it mature in the cellar for a few years, you will find yourself uncorking a magnificent wine with grace and complexity.

Why now: it is the best time to walk in the mountains and then take a break in a trattoria, sipping a local red, with robust alpine dishes.

As did: after the vinification, lasting 8 days, the wine made a passage in steel, then it was aged in second passage barriques for about 20 months. He rested another 6 months in bottle before being put on the market.

To combine with: pizzoccheri, pork loin with prunes, seasoned cheeses, grilled meats, game.

Serve it at: 16 ° C.

Price: 28 euros.

ninonegri.it