Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has a polished nose of cedar, blackberries, dark plums, cloves, ash and graphite. Firm and chewy tannins here, with a medium to full body. Structured and serious, with a long, firm finish. Wait and see.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Sicilia Cabernet Sauvignon Vigna San Francesco is a delicious wine. It is chewy, soft, intense and packed tight with thickly textured fruit weight. The tannins are firm with a hint of dustiness, but the wine is poised to flesh out with more time in the cellar.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Enthusiast
The nose is cool but intense, with notes of tart fruit and spices wafting around a potent stoniness. The fruit sweetens on the palate, but an enduring kick of pepper and firm, formidable tannins preserve this wine's earthy but vibrant core.
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Wine Spectator
A balanced red, with a savory overtone of cured tobacco layered with ripe black currant, fig cake, espresso and loamy earth notes. Tightly meshed, with chewy tannins on the finish, but opens up nicely in the glass.
"Regaleali is a vast Sicilian estate owned by the noble Tasca d'Almerita family since 1837 and best-known for its fine wines. Sicily's viticultural roots are some of the world's most ancient as the area supported vines as far back as five centuries before Christ. The Tasca D'Almerita family runs a model estate that yields approximately 200,000 cases annually. The wines are made in one of the world's most modern wineries built under the direction of Ezio Rivella.
The wines of Regaleali continue to grow in both quantity and quality thanks to the hard work and dedication of Count Giuseppe Tasca over the past 50 years. Today the winery is run by Lucio Tasca and his sons, Giuseppe and Alberto who are increasingly involved in management. Carlo Ferrini, one of Italy's most renown enologists, is makes the wines. In conjunction with the winery, Anna Tasca Lanza - Lucio's sister – also runs a highly regarded cooking school at the estate."
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
A large, geographically and climatically diverse island, just off the toe of Italy, Sicily has long been recognized for its fortified Marsala wines. But it is also a wonderful source of diverse, high quality red and white wines. Steadily increasing in popularity over the past few decades, Italy’s fourth largest wine-producing region is finally receiving the accolades it deserves and shining in today's global market.
Though most think of the climate here as simply hot and dry, variations on this sun-drenched island range from cool Mediterranean along the coastlines to more extreme in its inland zones. Of particular note are the various microclimates of Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, where vineyards grow on drastically steep hillsides and varying aspects to the Ionian Sea. The more noteworthy red and white Sicilian wines that come from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna include Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (reds) and Carricante (whites). All share a racy streak of minerality and, at their best, bear resemblance to their respective red and white Burgundies.
Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted red variety, and is great either as single varietal bottling or in blends with other indigenous varieties or even with international ones. For example, Nero d'Avola is blended with the lighter and floral, Frappato grape, to create the elegant, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, one of the more traditional and respected Sicilian wines of the island.
Grillo and Inzolia, the grapes of Marsala, are also used to produce aromatic, crisp dry Sicilian white. Pantelleria, a subtropical island belonging to the province of Sicily, specializes in Moscato di Pantelleria, made from the variety locally known as Zibibbo.