COS Ramí 2009 Sicilia

From €10.60, US$23.44, £13.80

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You may remember my rather gushing review of Cos Frappato 2008 IGT Sicilia  earlier this year, where I gave some background to this terrific producer in the far south west of Sicily.

I am no less enthusiastic about this wine, COS, Ramí 2009 IGT Sicilia, even though it is very different, not least because it's white. Whereas the red was fragrant. light and fresh, this is rich, mouthfilling and quite powerful even with just 12.5% alcohol. The power comes from the ripe citrus fruit – some notes of orange zest as well as Sicilian lemons – and the firm texture that results from 10 days' skin contact and pretty warm fermentation (26 ºC) in concrete vats. But underneath the intensity of flavour is an almost sour freshness, a nutty, salty taste and a delicate minerality which brings real balance to a wine with fairly moderate acidity.

Don't be surprised by the deep gold colour that results mostly from the skin contact. It still tastes young and vibrant and should develop well over the next year or so. In fact it was a bottle of the 2008 that reminded me how much I like this wine: it went particularly well with cod and spiced aubergines and with sole dressed in capers and cauliflower in the tiny Giaconda Dining Room, Soho, reviewed here by Nick when it opened in 2008. In the current fashion for fermenting white wines on the skins, some appear to me to be overdone and astringent. This though is well judged and in harmony with the intensity of flavour. The finish is surprisingly delicate, a sour-citrus, bitter-almond minerality on the finish, so that the wine seems to gather itself into focus at the end.

I almost forgot to mention the grape varieties: 50% Inzolia and 50% Grecanico, which turns out to be the same variety as the Garganega at the heart of Soave. The grapes were harvested in the middle of September in the area of Ramingallo (hence the name?) at a height of 250 m above sea level. No oak. The 2008 and the 2009 are slightly different but equally delicious.

In the UK the 2009 is available from Slurp and is very likely to be available from those currently selling the 2008, inlcuding The Wine Shed in Somerset, London's Wimbledon Wine Cellar (Chiswick, Chelsea and Wimbledon), The Sampler in Islington N1, and from www.everywine.co.uk. Also available direct from importers Les Caves de Pyrène at their shop near Guildford.

Wine-searcher lists Saratoga Wine Exchange, NY, and Primovino, CO, in the States; plus Gute Weine Lobenberg in Germany, Cultivino in Switzerland and several stockists in Italy. COS's own website lists their distributors around the world but unfortunately only addresses are given.

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