30/05/2024
🍷Crondall Stores Wines of the week 🍾
We are pleased to bring you two really well regarded wines from south-eastern Sicily as our wines of the week. The white is an innovative and award winning blend of the indigenous Grillo grape with the archetypal French Viognier. Crisp and dry, it is a great alternative to a sauvignon or pinot blanc. The red also uses an Indigenous grape, Frappato. Described in Decanter magazine as ‘the perfect summer red’ and a Joanna Simon ‘wine of the week’, it is light and fruity and goes equally well with meat and fish. You can also serve it slighty chilled! Two great wines to sip this weekend.
🍷2022 Santa Tresa 'Rina Russa' Frappato
A Joanna Simon wine of the week and awarded 92 Points by Decanter who describe it as the perfect summer red, this is a different Sicilian red. The Frappato grape is indigenous to south-eastern Sicily.
Santa Tresa offers roots back back to 1697, but it was only in the early 1990s that siblings, Stefano and Marina Girelli, wine entrepreneurs from Trentino in Northern Italy, discovered these clandestine vineyards near Vittoria, Sicily. 2001 saw sister and brother purchasing the winery, an exciting milestone for Santa Tresa’s history. Immediately they embarked on an expansive renovation project, overhauling the entire estate which now crafts vibrant, pure, and exciting wines from native grapes such as Grillo, Frappato, and Nero d’Avola.
GRAPE Frappato
STYLE Light Fruity Red
ABV 13%
COUNTRY Sicily, Italy
Tasting Notes:
Rina Russa genuinely has its own unique style, as the Frappato grapes come from ancient clones developed on our own estate. It has a very beautiful light cherry colour, with a fresh and vibrant bouquet, reminiscent of wild strawberries and a beautifully balanced palate, with silky smooth fruit, a real freshness running through it and a surprisingly long finish.
Food Pairings in Crondall Stores:
Rina Russa is a red wine in a class of its own and with its extraordinary fruitiness, it is a red wine which tradition dictates should be drunk with fish. Among those perfect matches are several traditional dishes from typical of Ragusa – tuna, sword fish, blue fish. A really versatile red, best served at room temperature (18-20°C) with cured meats and cheeses, but with fish, serve at around 14-16°C.
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🍷 2022 Santa Tresa Grillo Viognier
This innovative wine is award-winning in international competitions, demonstrating that while Sicily is known as a red wine producing region, it also makes fantastic white wines. ��An unusual blend of Grillo, an excellent indigenous Sicilian grape variety, with the French Viognier, which enjoys perfect growing conditions at Santa Tresa. ��Santa Tresa is situated in the commune of Vittoria, in the south-east of Sicily, at 24 metres above sea level. The estate covers 50 hectares, 39 of which are vineyards.
GRAPE A blend of 70% Grillo and 30% Viognier
STYLE Crisp, dry white
ABV 13.5%
COUNTRY Sicily, Italy
Tasting Notes:
The minerality and freshness of the Grillo is perfectly complemented by the intensity and body of the Viognier. Straw yellow in colour, it has a bouquet layered with white fruits such as peaches, which gradually develop into notes of apricots and herbs. On the palate, is has a wonderful minerality, it is well balanced with a lovely softness on the finish.
Food Pairings in Crondall Stores:
This wine is the perfect accompaniment to seafood antipasti, shellfish, and pasta or risotto made with fish or vegetables. Also perfect with cured meats. Best served at 10-12°C.
If you enjoy this wine, come back soon to check out our next Crondall Stores ‘Wines of the Week’. We’ll have more wine and food recommendations for you. Don’t forget to let us know what wines you would like to see us stock.
If you’ve enjoyed these wines, come back soon to check out our next Crondall Stores ‘Wines of the Week’. We’ll have more wine and food recommendations for you. Don’t forget to let us know what wines you would like to see us stock.