Winemaker Notes
Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A balanced red with currants and cedar and lightly toasted wood. Full body, with velvety tannins and bright finish. Slightly hollow mid-palate but should fill in. A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc.
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Wine Enthusiast
Burdese is Sicily’s tip-of-the-hat to the great wines of Bordeaux. A blended red, the wine is elegant and firm, with dark concentration and earthy tones of leather and spice behind fresh berry and blackberry. Balance and length characterize the mouthfeel.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Burdese is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc. Dark red cherries, plums, tobacco, espresso and licorice take shape in the glass. The tannins are a bit firm, but there is more than enough fruit to stand up to the wine’s textural elements. Sweet, perfumed notes laced with Cabernet Franc character develop on the finish, adding lift, perfume and finesse.
Italian Red Wine
While picturesque hillsides, endless coastlines and a favorable climate serve to unify the grape-growing culture of this country. The apparent never-ending world of indigenous grape varieties gives Italy an unexampled charm and allure for its red wines. From the steep inclines of the Alps to the sprawling, warm, coastal plains of the south, red grape varieties thrive throughout.
The kings of Italy, wines like Barolo and Barbaresco (made of Nebbiolo), and Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino (made of Sangiovese), as well as Amarone (mostly Corvina), play center stage for the most lauded, collected and cellar-worthy reds. Less popular but entirely deserving of as much praise are the wines made from Aglianico, Sagrantino and Nerello Mascalese.
For those accustomed to drinking New World reds, the south is the place to start. Grapes like Negroamaro or Primitvo from Puglia and Nero d’Avola from Sicily make soft, ammicable, full-bodied, fruit-dominant wines. Curious palates should be on the lookout for Cannonau (Grenache), Lagrein, Teroldego, Ruché, Freisa, Cesanese, Schiopettino, Rossese and Gaglioppo to name a few.