Pianogrillo 2022 Terre Siciliane Grecanico

A fresh and crisp Grecanico, and in true Sicilian style, very versatile at table, matching beautifully with black bean soup, spaghetti with tomato sauce, and grilled salmon with salsa verde. It turns out that Grecanico Dorato (the grape used here) is closely related to Garganega (the grape used in Soave), but this news surprised me because the wine is so much more exciting than 99.9% of Soave. At 12.5° alcohol, it is light and crystalline, with aromatics that made me think of exotic, gewurz-type fruit – lychee, pineapple, warm spices, all with an intense chalky / mineral foundation and racy, lemony acidity. From 30+ year-old vines, fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts. Quite a remarkable and complex wine that far out-performs its price. -JW