“Krimiso”, Catarratto, Terre Siciliane Bianco

“Krimiso” refers to a river in western Sicily and to its corresponding deity, believed to guard wisdom in ancient Greek times. 100% Catarratto, it is harvested and placed whole-cluster into stainless steel where it spends 8 months macerating with occasional pump-overs but is never pressed. The wine is bottled directly from tank with no added sulfur. “Krimiso” leads with an enveloping nose of ripe orchard fruits and licorice, with tropical fruit at the fringes. The extraordinarily fine tannins here speak to Aldo’s lack of manipulation during the long and gentle maceration. The fruit is fuzzy, not glossy—soft analog rather than crisp digital—with an underpinning of botanicals and earthy spice, and a prolonged decrescendo of a finish.