Zibibbo sweetens up the island of Pantelleria

This year as I'm working through a little redesign of my site I have so many articles from when I started this blog almost 3 years ago, but I want to focus more this year on some of the even lesser known varietals and regions that I haven't talked to much about. That brings me to my topic today and with Valentine's Day around the corner I thought it was only appropriate to focus on a dessert wine for the holiday, Moscato and Passito di Pantelleria.

Even though I love dry red wines I have a real appreciation for all wines and I definitely have a sweet tooth so when it comes to dessert wines they all call my name. Plus, they're my husbands favorites and I have to keep him happy too. It is Valentine's Day after all.

Love collecting these Annalee dolls

Pantelleria is an island off the coast of Sicily bordering Africa. It suffers from the hot winds blowing over from Africa known as the scirocco winds. These winds as you can imagine can be damaging to the grapes grown here as it can literally bake the grapes. The wineries of the island protect their grapes by wrapping the vines to look like wreaths that cover up and protect the grapes with the leaves. I've also seen this done on the island of Santorini in Greece due to it's intense heat and wind. With these temperatures the residual sugars in the grapes increase and produce very ripe grapes, resulting in the amazing dessert wines known as the Passito di Pantelleria or Moscato di Pantelleria.

An overview of the fields of Pantelleria by Luca Volpi

These wines are made from moscato grapes, which here are also known as zibibbo. What a fun word for a grape! The grapes are actually harvested at night out of the intense day sun to help balance the acidity and sugar. The wines are produced in a multitude of styles as well. You'll find it in a dry style, sweet/dolce style, liquoroso (fortified) and the most popular known as the passito style. What makes this wine special is that the grapes are actually dried out in the sun on volcanic black sun concentrating the sugars further. The Passito di Pantelleria is one of the top dessert wines that you'll find throughout Italy.

Zibibbo grapes drying on the island of Pantelleria by Craig Drollett

Any version that you can find to experience is worth the treat. A popular producer and wine on the US market from Pantelleria is that from the well-known Donnafugata winery known as Ben Rye. This wine retails in about the mid $40's, but is quite delightful. I hope you get to seek one out this Valentine's Day or in the near future. Let me know if you do or have had others as I always love suggestions.

I'd love to hear from my readers as well. Do you enjoy dessert wines in general or do you prefer a dried style of wine?

 
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Big Announcement for the Future of Vino Travels

Vino Travels has a big announcement for all my readers that I’m thrilled to share with you.  Unfortunately, I’m going to withdraw today from sharing Italian knowledge and bring you into my personal life.  In June of 2016 my husband and I will be welcoming a future winelover into our lives.  To say the least we’re over the moon!

My dad's first gift to me. He knows me well!

That doesn’t mean anything for what Vino Travels brings to you week after week and the goals for this site.  I plan to continue to educate the world on Italian wines offering wine suggestions and experiences, introducing you to winemakers, winery visits and wine events.  It’s a passion of mine and we know that with this drive it will never go away.

Of course I’m not drinking wine during this time, but I’m still able to taste and spit and can get all the same characteristics without digesting it.  Of course it’s tempting with all the wine I have lying around the house calling my name, but it will be even more reason to celebrate and pop bottles that I can actually drink after June.

My other favorite hobby!

I love hearing from my readers and highly encourage comments throughout these months.  Let me know what you love about Vino Travels and I’m always open to hearing what you’d like to learn more about.  I’ll be focusing more on educating over these months than offering up specific wine bottle suggestions.  I appreciate the support and am always honored when I get new subscribers to my newsletters around the world.

So join me on my countdown and share any great Italian bottles you’re drinking along the way.  I'll be mostly living vicariously through you all!

 

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Comparing Aglianico and Nebbiolo

Earlier this month our Italian Food, Wine & Travel group (#ItalianFWT) featured the region of the Basilicata. In writing about the most popular grape of the region, aglianico, it brought about the question on how does aglianico of the south compare to nebbiolo of the north.

Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo is a grape most known for producing some of the top wines of Italy, barolo and barbaresco. Nebbiolo is found primarily in the region Piedmont, but is also found in Lombardy in the Valtellina winegrowing area, as well as the Valle d'Aosta. You can read more about nebbiolo and some of the differences between barolo and barbaresco to get a better understanding regarding these two wines and some more traits of the grape itself.

Nebbiolo growing in Barbaresco

Aglianico

Aglianico is a grape that is primarily found in the regions of Campania, mostly around Mount Vesuvius and in the Basilicata region, mostly found in the Monte Vulture area. As you'll see it shines when grown in volcanic soil and is what makes the wine special. You'll find further detail about the aglianico grape on my recent article.

Mt. Vesuvius over Pompeii

Aglianico has been called the “barolo of the south” and yes, it does have some similarities to nebbiolo in the north, but aglianico is a grape that has enough differences to be recognized on its own as it should be.

Similarities of Aglianico and Nebbiolo

There are many similarities between these two grapes from two different spectrums of Italy. To start off they are both late ripening grapes that produce wines with high tannins and acid. Obviously each cru site, or single vineyard site, where these wines are grown have their own characteristics, but they're typically dense, complex, rich and concentrated wines. These are the types of wine that can be aged for 10-30 years or more depending on the producer. They usually will benefit from some decanting and need time in the bottle to be more approachable and to mature.

Differences of Aglianico and Nebbiolo

I believe that aglianico is a grape that is more approachable in its youth. You can find some wines from La Morra for example that are more approachable in their youth, but we're talking the overall general picture. These grapes also have different aging requirements when comparing the DOCG's of Basilicata and Barolo and Barbaresco. The Aglianico del Vulture Superiore of Basilicata requires 2 years of aging for the regular red and 4 years for the riserva. In comparison, Barbaresco is more closely related with it's aging period of 26 months for it's red and 50 for it's riserva. Barolo is higher requiring 38 months for it's red and 62 months for it's riserva. Lastly, you can find more affordable aglianico wines than you will find in Barolo and Barbaresco, but there are plenty of other nebbiolo wines from the other regions I mentioned as well as others grown within Piedmont outside of Barolo and Barbaresco.

What are your thoughts on these two grapes and do you have a preference? I'd love to hear from you.

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