While travel was restricted during the Covid pandemic, Neil Duarte kept up with Italian wine with the help of winemakers who sent him samples to taste and review. Although travel has now resumed, and Neil and Terry are now able to travel to Italy, he continues to receive small samples for review. The article below is about one such wine. — ed.
With prices rising on most items, wine drinkers today often look for reasonably priced wines that have a good price/quality relationship. Recently I received some wines from Sicily sent by Corvo that meet this requirement. Corvo has been in the wine business in Sicily since 1824 and features reasonably priced wines that offer good quality, crafted by three-time Italian Winemaker of the Year, Barbara Tamburini.
We tasted each of the three wines separately with meals and so let’s begin with the white wine. With one of my wife’s risotto dishes, we tasted a Corvo 2020 Grillo Sicilia DOC, a 100% Grillo grape, 12% alcohol offering. The Grillo was soft pressed at moderate temperatures and, following fermentation, aged for 1-2 months in stainless steel tanks. The resulting wine was straw colored with a very light fruit nose. It finished medium and I rated it an 89. This was great with risotto.
Our red wine was a 2019 Corvo Nero D’Avola Sicilia DOC. Made from 100% Nero D’Avola grapes, this 12.5% alcohol offering was soft pressed followed by fermentation at moderate temperatures. It was aged in a blend of oak casks and stainless steel tanks. The Nero D’Avola was ruby in color with a light fruit nose. It finished medium long and smooth. I rated it an 89/90 and suggest it as an accompaniment to pasta dishes.
The last wine was a 2020 Corvo Rosé Terre Siciliane IGT, an 11.5% alcohol offering made from a blend of native grapes. The Rosé had cold maceration with a very short skin contact followed by soft pressing. Fermentation was done at moderate temperatures and then the wine was aged for 1-2 months in stainless steel tanks. This wine was a pale peach color with a very pleasant fruit nose. It finished medium and smooth and I rated this nice rosé an 89/90. It would be a very nice aperitif or even a light dinner wine.
If you are looking for reasonably priced wines under $15, these Corvo wines are a good choice.
Thanks go to Carlotta Ribolini at Colangelo & Partners for arranging the wines for our tasting.