COSTE AL VENTO

“Costa” is a Sicilian word for hillside, where the wind blowing from the ocean brings minerals to the soil and refreshment to vines and people. Here we grow the Grillo, a native intriguing variety, that embodies the character of our home land with its innovative style and unique charm.
A fully ripe and expressive fruit melts into saline fragrances, brought to the hills by the sea breeze. A perfect unconventional marriage exalted by our choices for a low impact winemaking: indigenous yeast used for fermentation emphasizes the grapes’ distinctive personality and their strong link with our beautiful territory.

Tasting notes
Its colour is bright and intense straw yellow; to the nose, complex and elegant aromas of white ripe fruit merge into herbal scents of oregano, mint and sage, on a rich layer of nettle and fine green tea. Its pleasant smooth palate is enriched by a mineral and vibrant aftertaste.

Food match
Big roasted fishes, Grilled crustaceans, Calamari stuffed with herbs and nuts
We also suggest: Tuma persa pecorino cheese and matured Caciocavallo Ragusano
My favorite combination: Busiate (typical Sicilian pasta) with lobster

The vineyard
Planting year: 2000
Soil type: Fertile and deep soil, rich in iron and other minerals, with very few stones.
Characteristics: Gently sloping soil, with a medium-fine texture and a reddish color.
Micro-climate: Located on the hillside, the vineyard enjoys amazing temperature gap between day and night time, especially in the summer.
Altitude: 220-230 metres above sea level.
Exposure: North-South.

The harvest
We normally pick our Grillo between the first and the second week of September, a few days before the grapes reach their full ripeness.

Technical information
Winemaking: The grapes are destemmed immediately after the harvest and undergo a cold maceration with the skins for about 36 hours. The must is then inoculated with a wild yeast pied-de-cuve and ferments with the skins in steel tanks at 18-20 °C for 5 days. After soft pressing, the fermentation continues in steel tanks until dryness.
Maturation: 2 months on its fine lees in French barriques and then 4 months in steel tanks, with weekly batonnages.
Refining: 3 months in bottles.

Alcohol content: 12% vol
Total acidity: 6,1 g/l
pH: 3,1
Residual sugar: 1,6 g/l

Ratings
Vendemmia 2012: Vini Buoni d'Italia: Corona, Luciano Pignataro:90/100
Vendemmia 2010: Cucchiaio d'Argento: 8/10

Tasted for you by
Luciano Pignataro: Coste al Vento SICILIA DOC 2012 | 90/100
Un vino in due tempi completamente staccati fra loro, quasi due film di genere opposto. Il naso è ampio, spazia dalle note di arancia e fiori di arancia alla pesca con rimandi molto interessanti alla macchia mediterranea. Un naso in cui prevalgono il giallo e il dolce.
Quando però si mette in bocca il vino cambia nel suo opposto: nel palato è una freccia, scorre velocissimo senza alcun attacco dolce, è ampio, occupa tutta la bocca, ed è lungo, lunghissimo, con un finale leggermente amaro che lascia tutto ben pulito. Un vino che evolve man mano che lo teniamo nel bicchiere, è cangiante.
Si presta sicuramente a molti abbinamenti grazie a questa carica energica molto marcata in bocca. Sono convinto che con il passare del tempo legno, già adesso ben dosato, e frutto, andranno a fondersi raggiungendo un’armonia di livello superiore e appagante.