The saying goes that wine tastes better if/when you’re drinking it where it’s produced. For example, a nice Chianti Classico with dinner at a trattoria near Panzano. Some people have even brought wines home with them from their trips only to say that it just didn’t taste as good once they were back home. I get that.
I mention this because I can’t imagine the 2015 Valle dell Acate Il Frappato tasting any better, anywhere, than it did last night with my homemade meal. And by tasting, let me be clear, it’s hard to get past the nose alone – I mean it’s SO good, I would be content to just sit and smell it all night. But alas, my food does need washing down; and those fresh acids, I mean come on, the way they guided the peppery cream sauce from first sip to swallow was magical.
Perhaps this comes across as breathless enthusiasm. Perhaps it seems like hyperbole. No, and No. This is the real deal, there’s no reason to make it more than it is since it’s that good to begin with. And the price, under $20, I mean wow, talk about winning.
I went back and got more of them today. I want cases. But, I’m going to Italy in just a few weeks, and I’ll probably end up drinking pretty well. I usually do.
If you like aromatic wines (sage, freshly picked raspberries, a basket full of freshly washed strawberries, and notes of earth, etc.) that marry the intensity of aromas with an equally exciting and original taste experience, then this is a wine you need to find, this is a grape and grower you should know.
Raised in steel, and aged for 3 months in bottle prior to release, this wine is flush with the vigor and color of youth. Serve at around 60F for an even better showing.
9 January, 2018 2015 Valle dell’Acate Vittoria Il Frappato – “100% Frappato, 100% delicious. My second time with this (with a meal that is, I’d tasted it at VinItaly), and I’m just floored at how lovely this is showing. There’s nothing simple about this wine – the nose is very soil driven, with a great deal of complexity within that descriptor: diesel, black earth, compost, twigs, bright, bright fruits, etc. And as vivid (and shifting, just wait 15 minutes) as the nose is, the palate is every bit the same – a wild, beautiful ride, with its very energetic beam of fresh acidity married to perfectly ripe red fruits, spice, some wood, etc. This is such a lovely partner to a wide range of foods; while eating dinner, I was already picturing buying a case, and what I’d be serving with each bottle, it’s THAT versatile, and that exciting. Red fruited, with a great sense of place, excellent balance and freshness, structure, class, etc…makes a great case for Frappato DOCG. 13,0% abv., thru 2021. recommended+
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