10 December 2008

2007 Feudo Arancio Grillo

One of my many weaknesses is that I will always jump at the opportunity to try a wine made on a Mediterranean island. There's just way too much history and cool geography to pass up. Such was the case with my purchase of the 2007 Feudo Arancio Grillo from Sicily. The name means something like "orange fiefdom", and Grillo is the grape, normally used in the production of the sweet fortified wine Marsala. $10, 13% abv.

Big and fruity, some pineapple and banana on the nose and really rich, round mouthfeel. It's bold, powerful, and broad shouldered. If this wine were a woman and you were dancing with her, she would be leading. (And I say that as a short guy who doesn't dance well and tends to date taller gals.)

I paired this with some takeout cheese enchiladas and it held up quite well against the spicy food. If you were looking for something more traditional, I'd suggest a mess of squid and shellfish with lots of olives and peppers.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I regularly buy Feudo Arancio Nero D'Avola, it's a really quite decent daily dinner wine at a very affordable price. There are other more complex and nuanced Nero D'Avolas out there at higher price points, but a fair number of more expensive Neros are inferior.

This wine works well with a lot of foods, if you enjoyed the Grillo give the Nero a try as well.

Dan

Benito said...

Dan,

I'll be on the lookout for it. I've had some other Nero d'Avolas in the past and am always eager to try another one.