Catarratto 2017 Barracco: A Natural Sicilian White Wine of Infinite Goodness
Catarratto 2017 from the Barracco winery is a sunny wine that makes you want not only to drink but also to explore the beauties of Sicily.
It is a wine that contains Sicilianity in every fiber. It is a wide-ranging, citrusy, structured, and enveloping wine that is also full of balsamic and marine aromas.
However, it doesn’t stop at the homework, the yellow colors, perfumes, and flavors. In the background, you can perceive melancholy marsala notes, almost decadent, cereals, and peat. Ripe and melodious, complex notes Just like Sicily: it fascinates you with its so-called beautiful and noble majesty, linked to a glorious past but still so alive.
Again, think of something grand like the Valley of the Temples or the Temple of Segesta. The good fortune of living (and making wine) in Sicily is that history is actually your present. Beauty surrounds you and lives with you; it’s not just artistic heritage.
And this wine has the same grandeur, but not in the sense that it wants to overdo it or be sumptuous. It is almost a feature inherent in his being Sicilian.
And if you think about it, it also applies to all Sicilian cuisine and all its products. Caciocavallo is not just a cheese but a stellar journey for the taste buds. The intensity of fish dishes, arancini, cannoli, and pistachios Everything in Sicily leaves you speechless; it has a flavor that drags you along and slaps you to wake up and tells you about a rich and generous land.
Even if it is in the wines that this magniloquence is evident. Think about how glorious Marsala or Etna wines can be, how much sea, sun, and balsamic flavors a Frappato can contain, or how complex Catarratto can be.
They are like the synthesis of an entire island, a world apart.
And this noble vine is really great when it is produced by a true winemaker in a natural and sincere way, without limiting the potential, depth, vitality, or even the fury of the wine itself.
All too often, Catarratto has been mortified by feeble and aseptic industrial productions that have relegated it to the stereotype of a salty and sunny wine, castrating its splendid oxidative nature.
Certainly it is not an immediate and easy-to-drink wine at first glance; the complexity is immersive and imaginative, but this does not make it an introverted wine. It must be contextualized.
Organoleptic characteristics
The bouquet is splendid and mottled, with great intensity. You can find everything in it, from citrus fruits to cereals, from the fleshy lure of broom to iodine. There is no shortage of balsamic and resinous tones. Everything is punctuated with surgical precision and elegance, without forcing. Ocean depth.
On the palate, it is structured, with a touch of tannin, and refreshed by a not very intense but acceptable acidity. What makes the sip varied and dynamic is the salt. Not really mineral, it’s more of a marine tactile sensation. The underlying softness is good and provides balance. Overall, it is a full-bodied wine but never massive; indeed, it is all about nuances.
The aging potential is infinite. For now, a certain roughness dominates; however, this concentration is undergoing transformation and will allow the wine to age peacefully. Even for 20 years.
With this wine, you will be able to understand the true potential of the Sicilian Catarratto. How rocky and deep it can be, how far a viticulture can go, that is all too often dominated by a stuffy and overcooked type of two-dimensional wine. But the times are ripe for the Sicilian Renaissance, and there is no shortage of young winemakers with so much to say. Just discover them.
Price
18-20 euros. an appropriate price.
