Donnafugata Dolce & Gabbana Tancredi Edizione Limitata Terre Siciliane IGT 2018

Name Tancredi  
Type Red - Nero d'Avola Cabernet Sauvignon Sicilia IGT<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Alcohol level 13,5-14% vol.
Grapes Nero d'Avola, 70%; Cabernet Sauvignon, 30%.
Trained in the counter-espalier system and pruned in spurred cordon. Average planting density, 5,000 rootstocks per hectare (2,024 an acre); production of about 5,0 tons per hectare (2,0 tons an acre). Terrain of medium consistency.
Vinification The estate harvests Cabernet Sauvignon in late August and early September and Nero d'Avola in the first decade of September. The grapes are vinified in stainless steel with skin contact of about 12 days at 26-30°C (79-86° F). After malolactic fermentation, the wine is racked into new and twice-used French-oak barrels, for 14 months; bottle fining of six months.
Description The two varieties fuse in fine style. The Cabernet gives the Nero d'Avola a touch of mint, enriching its substantial supply of scents. Notes of licorice, cacao, cherries and bilberries against a sweetish background. The flavors are well-structured, full, absorbing and remarkably persistent.
Food matches With grilled or roasted red meats, imposing roasts, kid and lamb. Aged cheeses, like Ragusano. Porcini mushrooms, rabbit and polpettone (meat loaf).
Two dishes Cosce di coniglio alla maggiorana (haunch of rabbit with marjoram). Pappardelle (wide noodles) al Bagoss (an aged cheese from the valleys around Brescia).
Serve When served in large, relatively tall goblets with wide mouths, the wine can be uncorked a few minutes before serving; otherwise open the bottle two hours earlier. Excellent at 18°C (64° F).
Curiosity If you remember Alain Delon in the famous film that Luchino Visconti made from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's Il Gattopardo, you will see that this wine reflects the elegance and ambition of that "revolutionary." The label refers to the wineries at Contessa Entellina but they are placed on a cloud as in a mirage. "Viaggio a Donnafugata," composed by Nino Rota for Visconti. First vintage: 1990

sicilian wines Donnafugata Tancredi