A Wine I Wish I Had Bought More of: Bonavita Rosato

Quince, soon to be jam

It is a pity that the 2013 Giro is not going to Sicily next year, because I would like to feature this wine. Instead, I'll mention it here in the off-season. Not, by the way, that I really believe in an off-season for rosé, especially here in San Francisco, but perhaps in colder areas it is more of a reality.

Ceri at Biondivino recommended this wine to me a few weeks back when I dropped by for one of her in-store tastings. I had loved the Bressan Rosantico during the 2012 Giro and was eager to try more Italian rosés. Ceri sold me two, the first being this Bonavita Rosato. 

I spent more time than I should have photographing a glass, as I wanted to capture the almost cranberry-juice color of the wine. Thus, three cats, and quince (see below). The wine was indeed darker and fuller than many rosés, but refreshing and vibrant enough that willpower was necessary to not finish the bottle quickly. It paired well with my pasta with arugula pesto and I noticed that is was also recommended on Eater as an excellent pizza wine. I'll look forward to trying it again in 2013.

With help from google translate, I have found out a few details from the producer's website:
CLASSIFICATION: SICILY - Typical Geographical Indication.
PRODUCTION AREA: village of Faro Superiore - Messina, Sicily North - East.
ALTITUDE: 250 m above sea level
VARIETY ': Nerello Mascalese Nerello Cappuccio, Nocera.
AGE of THE VINEYARD: 7 to 55 years.
SOIL TYPE: Clay, characterized by layers of clay and tufa.
TYPE OF AGRICULTURE: natural. No use of chemical fertilizers, organic matter supply through annual legume green manure, no use of herbicides and insecticides; judicious pruning green limited to a minimum pesticide treatments carried out at low doses of copper and sulfur cluster thinning in excess , if necessary.
WINE-MAKING: no chemical intervention on the grapes, no addition of sulfur dioxide and other chemicals in fermentation maceration on the skins for 24-30 hours, then fermented in stainless steel.
AGEING: 6 months in stainless steel.
PRODUCTION: 1500 bottles.

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