Brett happens

Good news! Our favourite Silcilian winemaker, Arianna Occhipinti, and partners have launched a négociant line of affordable wines under the Tami label. They buy grapes from local organic growers and make the wines in Arianna’s facilities. In addition to the two wines discussed here, there’s a Grillo, which I’ve not managed to snag a bottle of. All three were brought into Quebec by oenopole earlier this spring and sold out in about five minutes. Tami is reportedly ramping up production and oenopole says availability should be much less tight in the future.

Sicilia IGT 2009, Frappato, Tami ($18.25, oenopole)
Lovable nose: red berry-flavoured hard candies, dusty sun-baked earth, gaining some leafmould. Sweet and sour cherry on entry. Medium bodied. Light tannins. Bit of an acid bite and a streak of residual sugar. Turns darker and drier on the finish with its lingering mild bitterness (cherry pits?). Simple but not facile. Label suggests serving with appetizers and fish. Didn’t stand up well to a pork and mushroom stew perfumed with anchovy and marjoram, though I could see it  working with grilled salmon. Serve lightly chilled.

Sicilia IGT 2009, Nero d’Avola, Tami ($18.25, oenopole)
Plum and blackberry, shoebox, hints of dried herb, terra cotta and red meat. Medium bodied. Layered flavours: bright red fruit at first, then darker, with an elusive spice note (star anise?). Tannins still light but so much more present than in the Frappato. Long with a lingering astringence. The wine’s welterweight and acidity mean it avoids even a hint of heaviness. Paired well with that pork stew and with a merguez pizza, testifying to its adaptability to a wide range of savoury dishes.

Compared with Occhipinti’s flagship wines – Il Frappato and Siccagno (100% Nero d’Avola), which run about twice the price – these are simpler, more straightforward, made for immediate consumption. Or, to put it another way, if those wines are not out of place at formal dinners, these wines are for everyday drinking, for al fresco meals, for throwing back: Italian equivalents of a great bistro wine.