The incursion into Puglia here on May 9 with the Negroamaro grape variety naturally invites you to move towards the final southern borders of Italy, at about the same latitude as Tunisia, located further west. We are in Sicily this time, but at the extreme southeastern tip of an island of which Etna is unquestionably the volcanic star. The friendly Matteo Catania, from the Gulfi house, was waiting for us there for a videoconference, the only inconvenience of which lay in the fact of not being able to tread with him the 40 hectares of family vineyard near Pachino.
More than 7,000 kilometers away, three of his particularly spirited cuvées, tasted in his company, released from the bottle such a talkative genius that I could not help evoking this negroamaro from the continent which had fascinated me then, not only because of its noble peasant aspirations, but also because of its perfect match between grape variety-terroir-climate-environment. This famous ” somewhereness evoked by the Anglo-Saxons.
Negroamaro (bitter black) is to the terroir of Puglia what nero d’avola (black from Avola, or Calabrese), or this “calau aulisi” identified as being “that which is geographically located under the municipality of Avola”, is in the region of Pachino. “On the side of Pachino, south of the municipality of Avola, among the contrast [contrées régionales] Bufaleffj, Maccari and San Lorenzo, an exceptional concentration of all the terroirs and sub-soils that Sicily conceals”, explained a Matteo Catania convinced that nero d’avola is to Pachino what nebbiolo is to Barolo and sangiovese to Brunello di Montalcino.
Would we be here in the favorite land of the great nero d’avola? The three crus currently available, but in limited quantities, invite me to think so. Significantly finer and deeper than the negroamaro, although it has a profile that is close to it, this pure nero d’avola also offers a remarkable perspective of evolution in the bottle, due to its tight and fine tannic structure. coupled with a very low pH (3.3) which gives it an invigorating tone. An incongruity in one of the driest, hottest and brightest landscapes on the planet, where irrigation is prohibited and where, in the words of Matteo, “you have to adapt the size according to the environment to preserve the balance of the cuvées”.
It is the sapidity, this dynamic perspective which, in the mouth, makes you salivate, which quickly imposes itself on tasting, with this impression of reducing an alcoholic strength in a more digestible perspective. Here, the three wines from organic farming specifically tick the boxes of a great wine, namely that they tell a unique story that is theirs, that they have this ability to improve in the bottle well beyond a decade, whether they express the subtle variations of the terroir or, even, that they stand out and ensure an exemplary regularity of interpretation over time. At prices that, here, are perfectly consistent with what has been mentioned previously.
Sanlore 2017 ($63.25 – 15086601). Avoid the description posted on the SAQ’s website, which states that “the 2017 Nero Sanloré is the dusty, spicy, elegant beauty of Avola’s Gulfi Nero line… […] A subtle layer of tannins lingers, but doesn’t get in the way as it ends on sweet minerals and a hint of tangerine.” Instead, imagine the finesse of a Barbaresco with darker accents, a taste of dried fruit and remarkable length. Less than a kilometer from the sea and at an altitude of only ten meters, a red that assumes itself, without a drop of Merlot to pervert it. (5+) © ★★★★
Bufaleffj 2017 ($63.25 – 15086610). Roundness and fullness, curves and fruity arabesques of the most sensual and spicy on a dazzling, captivating whole, long in the mouth. (10+) © ★★★★
Maccarj 2017 ($51.75 – 15086599). Slightly more austere, and of a remarkable fruity density, structuring the mouth with freshness, race and authority, of high sap. “Mineralizing! » (10+) © ★★★★
Jacky’s friend is gone
Friend Jacky Blot, master of chenin blanc, but above all a guy of boundless generosity, died at 75 brooms on May 15th. All of the Loire, but also the many lovers of montlouis-sur-loire, vouvray and bourgueil, including myself, no doubt have sad wine today. The son Jean-Philippe takes over the reins of a vineyard not only treated with small onions (organic), but revealing fruits whose wines stood out by their luminosity and their integrity. Come meet him in turn with four cuvées — Domaine de la Taille aux Loups “Bretonnière” 2020 ($45.75 – 12098025 – (5+) ★★★ 1/2), “Clos Mosny” 2020 ($42 – 123036740 – (10+) ★★★★), “Clos de Venise” 2020 ($50.75 – 13597109 – (10+) ★★★★), “Haut de Husseau” 2020 ($43.25 – 13597141 – ( 5+) ★★★★ — re-reading the chronicle Jackie’s friend written less than a year ago. Hi friend !
Reader friends,
Thirty years of wine chronicles end with the one you have in front of you today, but I am continuing the adventure with you in another format in the Plaisirs du Duty, which appears on Saturdays. It’s a date, then!