Meeting 452

      Meeting 452 - -"Wines from Sicily and Puglia"

                  Friday 21st October 2022

             Speaker:  Clive Stanton, Eton Vintners

Clive Stanton

       We welcomed a new speaker to the Branch, Clive Stanton of Eton Vintners, Windsor. Clive founded the company 30 years ago. He has worked and studied in Switzerland and France, and has travelled extensively to broaden his experience of wine; recent trips have included South Africa, Argentina, Chile, west-coast USA, Lebanon, Iberia and Italy.
       The Planeta aperitif was refreshing and fruity on the palate. A good start to the evening. (Diego Planeta, who died in 2020, was the founder of the new wave of Sicilian wines and was President of Settesoli, Menfi, the leading co-operative on the island). The Grillo which followed had a fresh elderflower nose. Full fruit on the palate but with a slightly vegetal hint. The Branco di Nero is the product of efficiently separating off the red skins of the Nero di Trioa grape. Refreshingly light citrus with a clean gentle acid finish. It was one of the several wines which has a very broad range of scores. The last white wine from Planeta had a nettles nose . The 6 months on the lees added full flavour.
       The first red, a Nero d'Avola from Mandarossa, was a deep cherry in colour, had a fresh red cherry and blackberry nose. The palate had an intense plum and red berry flavour. Mark provided us with arancini stuffed with lamb ragu to accompany the wine. The Primitivo (or should we say Tribidrag!) Fatalone from Gioia del Colle DOC had a rich soft fruit nose and a full fruit palate. No doubt the result of 6 months in Slavonic oak and 6 months in bottle. The Squizano Tacco Baroocco, made from Malvasia and Negroamaro grapes had great depth in colour, had a strong prune nose combined with a full fruity palate of cherries and balanced tannin and a long finish. It proved to be one of the most popular wines of the evening. The Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG from Cos on the SE of Sicily was a combination of Negro d'Avola (60%) and Frappato(40%) - the grape akin to Gamay. Intense Sloe on the nose, full stone stone fruit on the palate but only mildly tannic with a long finish. Oddly, Richard Hemming MW thought this wine could better be served at below normal temperature. The final wine, from Sampietrana, was a a traditional Puglian product. The Negramaro blended with the puglian specialty, Susumaniello, grown on 'albarello puliese' trained vines, gave this an authentic heritage. 12months in barriques gave this wine a light stone fruit nose with a well balanced palate of sloes and raspberry. With a long finish this clearly took the highest marks.
       To conclude the evening, Mark provided Pasta alla Norma, which is rigatoni with a tomato and aubergine sauce with grated hard ricotta; both red and white wines provided during the tasting were available to accompany this dish.
       Altogether an interesting evening.
       The only downside of the evening was the news of the passing of Doug Miles, our ex Deputy Chairman and Dorothy Fisher. Dorothy was a founder member of the Branch. She and her husband were the creators of the first vineyard in Oxfordshire, the Bothy Vineyard.

The Wines	Cost(£)**	Score
Aperitif: Planeta Brut 2016	29.95	7
The Whites: (1) Grillo ERA Volpi 2020 (Sicily)	13.95	6+
(2)Bianco di Nero Comed'Invanto NV(Puglia)	18.95	6+*
(3) Alastro, La Planeta 2021 (Sicily)	18.95	6+*
The Reds: (4) Costadune Nero d'Avola Mandrarossa 2020(Sicily)	10.(5	7+
(5) Primitivo Gioia del Colle Fatalone 2021 (Puglia)	19.50	7+*
(6) Sqinzano DOC Tacco Barocco 2016 (Puglia)	14.95	8*
(7) Cerasuolo d Vittoria Classico, Cos 2019 (Sicily)	26.50	7+
(8) Settebraccia/Negramaro/Susumaniello Sampietrana 2019/20 (Puglia)	18.95	9

* Average of a wide range of scores!! Often 5 to 9
** Price to Members