The adaptation of international varieties to the Sicilian terroir: Coda della Foce and the birth of a Super Sicilian wine

It has been a long time since Robert Parker, tasting wines from Tuscany that didn’t adhere to the traditional blending laws for the region, invented the term “Super Tuscan”.

Those wines, breaking the rules of the Chianti appellation, are made basically with international grapes (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc), and often blended with the most important grape variety of Tuscany, the Sangiovese. Their winemaking focuses on a long refining in French barriques, which allows beautiful aging in bottles. They are rich and complex wines, and their quality is every bit as good as the more expensive French Bordeaux, though very similar in taste and style.

My father Pietro would only drink Bordeaux: he loved Pétrus (also because the wine had his same name I guess) and Margaux above all. Of course not something very affordable, and not for every day…

Coda della Foce, literally “the tail of the river close to its mouth”, is the name that he chose after deciding to share this wine with friends.
It is a tribute to the Belice River, which flows in our property and has a terrific influence on micro-climate and on grapes’ development, creating a fresh environment whose main characteristic is a huge difference in temperatures - from 15 to 20 degrees Celsius - between day and night.

The three grapes that we use for the blend today are the same that he had chosen years ago: Nero d’Avola, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The contribution of each variety may change every vintage, and it depends on each grapes’ character, as we always look for overall balance among three different components: acidity, tannins and fruitiness being harmonically fused in a full bodied dark wine that can age for years.

A Bordeaux style wine with a strong Sicilian personality, that walks off the beaten path: a “Super Sicilian”!