Rosso del Conte, Sicily beyond any fad (2)

Yesterday we wrote about the Regaleali San Lucio vineyard with it alberello-trained vines, the oldest and most widespread method in the semi-arid regions of the Mediterranean. This is due to the shortage of rainfall and warm sea breezes which justify keeping the vines close to the ground in order to reduce water consumption and the exposure of the vines to wind. The density of the vineyard is a classic 4,400 vines per hectare obtained by maintain a distance of 1.5m between vines. This means that large machinery cannot be used only small, hand-operated tillers. All the other operations are thus done by hand, from pruning to picking to the transportation of the grapes from the vineyard. Perricone and Nero d’Avola grapes are grown to produce Rosso del Conte, two varieties that have similar growing cycles and are harvested relatively late, between the end of September and the beginning of October. Having a longer growing cycle the grapes are exposed longer to the climatic conditions of the season and thus warmer years result grapes ripening 10-15 days earlier compared to cooler years. While the two varieties generally harvested at the same time, in cooler years Perricone may ripen later than Nero d’Avola forcing separate harvests. Harvesting alberello-trained grapes is exclusively done by hand given the impossibility of bringing in machinery.

San Lucio’s soil composition is one of the most complex in the Regaleali estate and produces a wine that is profound and elegant, bright and lively. Its color varies from an intense to a very intense prune-ruby, which becomes almost impenetrable in certain years. The aroma has a distinctly Mediterranean personality with its aromatic freshness and notes of spice and red berries. Its ‘sweet-green’ note between pepper, rosemary and turmeric is almost this wine’s calling card.

The wine is magnificently rounded yet closed when it is young to then become velvety with age. It is an expression of land it is from, the high hilly central region of Sicily, and never seems to be overripe while ensuring a correct phenolic maturity of its tannins. Rosso del Conte’s history is a long one and has involved numerous evolutions regarding how it is aged. Large chestnut wood barrels were used between 1970 and 1987, then large Slavonian oak barrels up until 1991 and later French oak tonneau barrels and barriques. It was also the first wine in Sicily to be made from a single vineyard.

The generator of all this was Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita who, in the early 1950s, travelled the word to learn about its great wines. He was the descendant of a family that already in the 19th century was cited in farming manuals on innovative and sustainable methods before these became trendy. Count Giuseppe firmly believed in sustainable agriculture and, even if the idea seemed crazy at the time, the possibility of producing wine in the Sicilian hinterland that could compete with the great French wines.

When he planted the San Lucio vineyard in 1959 with Perricone and Nero d’Avola, he was investing in a future that few Sicilians could envision and created the foundation for the first wine to be made in Sicily from a single vineyard. The first wine from this vineyard was Riserva del Conte in 1970 and the term ‘Riserva’ remained on the label until 1977 when the wine’s name was changed to Rosso del Conte.

Wine made in years that were not considered up to par were not sold, something that occurred only six times, in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1982, 1996 and 2009.

All the following wines are blends of Nero d’Avola and Perricone and aged in tonneau barrels and barrique.

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