The Red Duke

Duca Enrico from Duca di Salaparuta is a winemaking landmark for Sicily and beyond. With vintage 1985 it has achieved perfection.

In the summer of 1988, while we were in the middle of compiling the Vini d’Italia (Italian Wines) guide, I got a phone call from Carlo Petrini, who was co-editing the publication with me. “Listen,“  he said, “I just tasted a fantastic wine. It’s from a famous winery that for the most part produces commercial wines but this one is outstanding. It’s a 1984 Duca Enrico, a single-grape Nero d’Avola and I’ve never tasted anything like it. The enologist is from Piedmont, Franco Giacosa, and I want to include it in the guide but you try it first”.

Such enthusiasm from Carlo for a Sicilian wine was most unusual, considering he loved and continues to adore Barolo and Barbaresco, and it caught me a bit by surprise. But he was so convincing that I couldn’t refuse and so I called the Duca di Salaparuta winery in Casteldaccia, spoke with Giacosa and the then-CEO Gaetano Zangara and arranged to meet. I knew the producer for their wines Corvo, Bianco, Rosso and Colomba Platino which were acceptable, well-made wines but in no way to be considered outstanding.

When I got there I tasted all their wines and at the end Giacosa proudly opened a bottle of 1984 Duca Enrico. It was still not available retail and was named after Duca Enrico Alliata, the estate’s old owner. At the time, I did not have the expertise I do now but my first sip told me this was a magnificent wine. It was bold and had class, the aromas were perhaps a little too spicy due to the use of barriques but the wine was still very young and needed to age some more in the bottle to soften the edges. I had never tasted anything like it from Sicily.

I called Petrini back and told him that the wine was truly exceptional and that we needed to award it with a prize, which we did in the guide’s 1989 edition. It was a leap to award a top “three glasses” rating to a wine on its debut and from a winery that at the time was considered a commercial producer but we did it just the same, drawing the scorn from the wine “prigs”, which was not surprising. Time proved us right but back then we were the target of scores of accusations, including that we had sold out to the big producers.

Duca Enrico has since then become a star of Italian winemaking and when, a few weeks ago, the current head of Corvo and Florio, Roberto Magnisi, proposed a small vertical tasting of seven vintages of that wine I had a flashback to at least 30 years of Italian wine history, as well as the many times I took part in that wine’s presentation around the world and my many visits to the estate’s historic headquarters in Casteldaccia. The seven wines included some old vintages, like 1985 ad 1999, as well as the more recent ones, like the 2016 and 2017. Let’s take a look.

Duca Enrico 1985

100/100 – € 200

Made with only Nero d’Avola and matured in barriques for 18 months. This is perhaps the greatest vintage of all and one of the best wines ever made in Sicily and beyond. The color is an intense and very lively garnet and the bouquet has extraordinary integrity and complexity. It opens with floral aromas, rose, followed by notes of currant, dark cherry, tobacco and spice that incredibly alternate with each other with a surreal integrity for a wine of this age. The mouthfeel is taut, very elegant and sumptuous with velvety tannins and a persistence that seems infinite. Very great to say the least.

Duca Enrico 1999

96/100 - € 100

Made with only Nero d’Avola and matured in barriques for 18 months. An intense, lively and nicely concentrated garnet color. The complex, balsamic aroma has notes of carnation, mint, cherry and hints of maraschino cherry. The warm and composed mouthfeel has tannins that are perfectly integrated into a wrapping and rich structure in which no element overshadows the other creating an almost silky and very balanced sensation. The finish has an obviously very long persistence.

Duca Enrico 2003

94/100 - € 60

Made with only Nero d’Avola and matured in barriques for 18 months. A very intense and concentrated garnet color. The product of a decidedly hot season which is evident already in the aroma with notes of tamarind and a touch of combustion are evident. They are followed by hints of spice, smoky scents and those of sour cherry jam. The mouthfeel is warm and full-bodied, as was to be expected, with thick tannins that were evident and still young. A very persistent finish.

Duca Enrico 2008

97/100 - € 60

Made with only Nero d’Avola and matured in barriques for 18 months. An intense, ruby-garnet color. The aromas are younger with fruity scents, blood orange and strawberry, and hints of capers up front. The mouthfeel is amazing, composed, even youthful, with an excellent acidity upholding an agile and elegant body, with very integrated and decidedly velvety tannins. The finish is more subtle but still has an incredible persistence. This will achieve the heights of the ’85.

Duca Enrico 2015

93/100 - € 60

Made with only Nero d’Avola and matured in barriques for 18 months. An intense, ruby-garnet color. The aroma is very varietal and thus less complex than the earlier wines with classic scents of capers, cherry, prune, sweet spice and cacao. The mouthfeel is warm and full-bodied with distinct tannins that are perhaps a tad too evident and decidedly young. An excellent persistence.
 

Duca Enrico 2016

94/100 - € 60

Made with only Nero d’Avola and matured in barriques for 18 months. A very intense ruby color. The bouquet is complex, floral, with an evident spice component of cinnamon and nutmeg, along with notes of capers and prune. The mouthfeel is warm, very Mediterranean, composed and wrapping with velvety and already integrated tannins with body and an excellent persistence.

Duca Enrico 2017

96/100 - € 60

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