Vino Lauria Frappato ‘Scoglitti’ 2019
Background
Vito Lauria is based in Alcamo, on the west side of Sicily, about 50km west of Palermo. He makes all kinds of interesting white wines made from indigenous Sicilian grapes like Grillo and Catarratto grown here in Alcamo. For the Frappato he is sourcing fruit from the OTHER side of the island (near the small town of Ragusa if you’re following along on Google Maps). Here in the southernmost part of Sicily you would expect it to be so hot that the only wine produced would be over-ripe, dark, and heavily tannic. Those are produced here for sure, mostly made from Nero d’Avola with some Syrah snuck in here and there. But in contrast to what the weather would tell you, this part of the island is home to some of its freshest, lightest, most easy-drinking reds. If you’re looking for a light red wine with some character, check out this part of Sicily. Frappato is a rare find as a single varietal in Ontario, but the LCBO will usually carry a few wines from near-by Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Sicily’s only DOCG (Italian wine law’s prestige appellation status).
Frapatto is hard to find mostly because it’s used to make blended wines. In many parts of Sicily, it’s added to bulk Nero d’Avola to give the wine a little finesse and spice. Frappatto is medium bodied, has nice acidity and a nuanced exotic spice backbone that goes really well with the North-African influenced Sicilian cuisine. Recent DNA analysis has revealed that Frappato’s lineage is probably linked with Tuscany’s famous Sangiovese grape having been cross-bred with an as of yet unknown Sicilian grape varietal. Sometimes obscure Italian grapes make their way into wine production in new world regions like Australia or California, but we couldn’t find any examples of Frapatto wines being made successfully anywhere outside of Sicily.
The reason Vito Lauria ships those grapes all the way back across the island to Alcamo is because he’s got some deep ties to this part of Sicily. He grew up here, visiting his grandfather (also named Vito) who ran a vineyard that he operated himself starting in the 1950s. In 1993 economic hardships hit this part of Italy and Grandfather Vito could no longer afford the vineyard, so he sold it and retired. Grandson Vito never forgot his childhood, working with his grandfather, so in 2010 after studying winemaking in Friuli he moved back down south and was able to buy his grandfather’s old vineyard. He named it all in his honour and has been making decidedly modern Sicilian wines ever since. What a nice story!
Food Pairing
Portuguese Rotisserie Chicken – One of the traditional Sicilian food pairings for Frappato is rabbit, braised in a tangy vinegar-heavy sauce. Now if you have access to some rabbit, by all means do it. If you can’t get your hands on some bunny, Portuguese chicken makes a nice lateral. Don’t forget the Piri-Piri!
Sundried Tomatoes – Frappato has tons of red fruit flavours. Pairing it with sundried tomatoes as part of a pasta or pizza will help to highlight the amplified fruity ‘tomatoiness’. Again, this is a nice pairing to highlight the cuisine of the region.
Pumpkin Spice Anything – Frappato is always known to have subtle spicy savoury flavours under all the fruit. Pairing this wine with food that has those baking spices (cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg etc.) will highlight those spice flavours in the wine.
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