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Benuara Cusumano 2004
Benuara Cusumano 2004
Sicilia
Nero d'Avola, Syrah
With the help from “Vivat i partneri” wine boutique, the rising Italian winery Cusumano won the palates of Croatian wine lovers in a very short time. The 2004 Benuara is a wine made from two varieties. The international variety of Syrah is represented with 30 percent, while the rest is the indigenous Sicilian variety Nero d'Avola (70 percent).
Although Nero d'Avola is the dominant variety in this field blend, the properties of Syrah are used so the wine would assume the color, aroma and extract content. Syrah, apart from being used for production of rich, heavy, high-extract wines made entirely from this variety, is very often used for blending with wines that don’t have these properties.
The Nero d'Avola variety, also known as Calabrese, was named after the southernmost Italian region of Calabria. This is the finest Sicilian grape variety in terms of quantity, but also quality. Although the Nero d'Avola itself gives very intoxicating and aromatic wines, the field blend gave a very dark, almost opaque wine that is very modern in terms of production “style”, although it is often a matter of controversy among wine experts. Namely, whenever the domestic, indigenous varieties are combined with international, “vagrant” ones, there are doubts about the wine’s “authenticity” (for example, how can we then speak of the terroir?, which is a hard to translate French word describing character or atmosphere of the location, i.e. vineyard), doubts about the production technology (use of cultivated yeasts whose behavior can be better predicted that the behavior of wild yeasts) and so on.
Nero d'Avola in this wine comes from the southern positions of vineyards around the town of Pachino that is also famous for its tomatoes. After the stems are removed, the grapes and skins macerated for two days at the temperature of 7°C, followed by the fermentation at the temperatures from 26 to 28°C. As much as 80 percent of the wine aged in stainless steel barrels, and 20 percent in oak barrels.
This is a rich, seductive wine. The first smell reveals the aroma of wild strawberries, cherries and violets. It is of dark red-purple color, almost black in the glass, with a reddish reflection on the edges, even when it is very close to the source of light. The spice and fruity aromas reveal Nero d'Avola with the traces of stewed blueberry. Blueberries are well complemented by the touch of peppery Syrah that contributes to wine’s complexity, and the entire taste is pleasantly framed with the pleasant acidic note that indicates that this is a wine that needs to be paired with an appropriate dish to fully shine.
Best paired with: steaks, roast beef, pasta with tomato and hot pepper sauce, spaghetti Bolognese, hard cheese
Serving temperature: 18-20° C
Price: HRK 98
Source: Gastro.hr
Sicilia
Nero d'Avola, Syrah
With the help from “Vivat i partneri” wine boutique, the rising Italian winery Cusumano won the palates of Croatian wine lovers in a very short time. The 2004 Benuara is a wine made from two varieties. The international variety of Syrah is represented with 30 percent, while the rest is the indigenous Sicilian variety Nero d'Avola (70 percent).
Although Nero d'Avola is the dominant variety in this field blend, the properties of Syrah are used so the wine would assume the color, aroma and extract content. Syrah, apart from being used for production of rich, heavy, high-extract wines made entirely from this variety, is very often used for blending with wines that don’t have these properties.
The Nero d'Avola variety, also known as Calabrese, was named after the southernmost Italian region of Calabria. This is the finest Sicilian grape variety in terms of quantity, but also quality. Although the Nero d'Avola itself gives very intoxicating and aromatic wines, the field blend gave a very dark, almost opaque wine that is very modern in terms of production “style”, although it is often a matter of controversy among wine experts. Namely, whenever the domestic, indigenous varieties are combined with international, “vagrant” ones, there are doubts about the wine’s “authenticity” (for example, how can we then speak of the terroir?, which is a hard to translate French word describing character or atmosphere of the location, i.e. vineyard), doubts about the production technology (use of cultivated yeasts whose behavior can be better predicted that the behavior of wild yeasts) and so on.
Nero d'Avola in this wine comes from the southern positions of vineyards around the town of Pachino that is also famous for its tomatoes. After the stems are removed, the grapes and skins macerated for two days at the temperature of 7°C, followed by the fermentation at the temperatures from 26 to 28°C. As much as 80 percent of the wine aged in stainless steel barrels, and 20 percent in oak barrels.
This is a rich, seductive wine. The first smell reveals the aroma of wild strawberries, cherries and violets. It is of dark red-purple color, almost black in the glass, with a reddish reflection on the edges, even when it is very close to the source of light. The spice and fruity aromas reveal Nero d'Avola with the traces of stewed blueberry. Blueberries are well complemented by the touch of peppery Syrah that contributes to wine’s complexity, and the entire taste is pleasantly framed with the pleasant acidic note that indicates that this is a wine that needs to be paired with an appropriate dish to fully shine.
Best paired with: steaks, roast beef, pasta with tomato and hot pepper sauce, spaghetti Bolognese, hard cheese
Serving temperature: 18-20° C
Price: HRK 98
Source: Gastro.hr
