Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cante's qualities, and in fact Planeta now makes
a Carricante wine.
Carricante used to grow all over Sicily in
centuries past, when it was in fact not confi ned
just to the volcano. Today all that has changed,
and Carricante, at roughly 146 hectares in
2009, is only the thirty-fi rst most-planted vari-
ety in Sicily (representing 0.12 percent of the
region's surface under vine), though over one
third of those vines are more than fi fty years
old. Even more interestingly, though it accounts
for roughly 95 percent of the white varieties
grown on Etna, it makes up only 10 percent of
those grown around Catania, a city less than an
hour's drive away. Again, paucity of diffusion is
not a refl ection on Carricante's quality, which
is inordinately high, but rather a consequence
of the limited areas the variety can be effec-
tively cultivated in. Or rather, farmers in other
parts of Sicily never appreciated its tendency to
give wines that were both very low in alcohol
and very high in total acidity. That is a shame,
since Sicily could stand to have a lot less Vio-
gnier and Sauvignon Blanc (of which there are
more than fi ve thousand and one thousand
hectares, respectively), which give, for the most
part, truly lousy Sicilian wines.
Carricante's bunch is usually medium-
large, cylindrical-conical, and long, with ellipti-
cal berries covered with little bloom. There are
at least two clones (CR-7 and Regione Siciliana
2) and at least two known biotypes (simply
called A and B) that have been studied ampelo-
graphically and from which microvinifi cations
have been obtained, but at least to me it seems
that neither the two vines nor the two wines
differ that much. Neither one is particularly
resistant to common vine diseases, the Achil-
les's heel of Carricante. In any case, most pro-
ducers try planting massal selections of old
vines whenever possible. The berries have
thick, yellow-green skins with slashes of white,
but are easily sunburned.
which it can be blended with small percentages
of other local white grapes such as Minella),
though there are also pure versions labeled with
the name of the cultivar. The wine is character-
ized by low potassium concentrations, very high
total acidity, and very low pH (values of 2.9-3 are
common) due to high malic acid concentrations.
For this reason, it is necessary to ensure malo-
lactic transformation, something that Sicilians
already knew in the eighteenth century (Sestini
1774); Etna vintners used to barrel-age Carri-
cante wines on their lees so that malolactic fer-
mentation would kick in and soften the wines'
sharp acidic edge. This is also why many produc-
ers chose to harvest it as late as possible.
A great carricante is best described as a dry
Riesling look-alike (when fi ve to ten years old, it
expresses very obvious fl inty, diesel-fuel aro-
mas just as Riesling does), very refi ned and
pure in its graceful mineral aromas and racy,
lemony fl avors, complicated by aniseed, green
apple, orange fl ower, chamomile, and unripe
apricot. I caution readers that not all Carricante
wines made today share the same degree of
depth and complexity, possibly as a result of
grapevines planted only recently (at roughly ten
years old, the variety's boom in popularity is a
relatively recent one). It is one of only a handful
of Italian white wines that age well, benefi ting
from ten years or even more. Its penetrating
aromas, saline fl avors, and extremely high acid-
ity are something not everyone gets used to, but
those who do are usually hooked for the rest of
their lives.
A number of carricantes are blended with
small or large amounts of Chardonnay, which
helps soften Carricante's angular profi le but
greatly changes the unique experience that
Carricante can deliver. I believe that quality
producers should realize they have a unique
grape and wine on their hands and should
know better than to go mixing it up with Char-
donnay. Mercifully, high-quality Etna Bianco
wines are blends (a minimum 60 percent Car-
ricante, or 80 percent for Etna Bianco Superi-
ore) with Cataratto and other local varieties,
including Minnella.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Carricante is the main player in DOC wines
Etna Bianco and Etna Bianco Superiore (in
