Tancredi by Donnafugata | Valentino Restaurant Group

This is an amazing Sicilian red which fuses together two of the best red varietals: Nero d’Avola 70% and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, offering notes of mint, licorice, cacao and cherries. Greta with roasted red meats, aged cheeses like Ragusano, porcini mushrooms, rabbit and meat loaf.

DOC Contessa Entellina

Curiosity

If you remember Alain Delon in the famous film that Luchino Visconti made from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusas’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)

Grapes

Nero d’Avola 70%, Cabernet Sauvignon 30%. Trained in the counter-espalier system and pruned in spurred cordon. Average plating density, 5,000 rootstocks per hectare; production of about 5.0 tons per hectare (2.0 tons an acre). Terrain of medium consistency.

Alcohol level:

13,5-14%vol.

Vinification

The estate harvest Cabernet Sauvignon and Nero d’Avola during the month of September. The grapes are vilified in stainless shell with skin contact of about 12 days at 26-30C (79-86 F). After malolactic fermentation, the wine is aged in a new and second passage, French-aok barrels for 12-14 months and ages in bottle for at least 10 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  agains 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 popettone (meat loaf)

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)

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