Ep. 2102 Carricante, Catarratto Bianco Comune by Jodie Hellman | Italian Grape Geek

So I remember having a very visceral reaction the first time I tasted caracate. It's vibrant acidity made my eyes open wide and I quickly went to a happy place in my head. My smile was so big. It made my cheeks hurt. Where had this wine been all of my life? Welcome to the Italian GrapeGeek Podcast. Join us as we explore personal stories of travel and Tasting with Italy's must know grape varietals. Chart your own course with my Italian Greg beef journal, your personal tasting companion to accompany the series. Available now on Amazon. With thanks to Colangelo and partners for their generous support with this project. Hello. And welcome to the Italian Great Geek with me, Jody Helman. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I am a Italian wine Ambassador, passed the course in twenty twenty three. And I am also an importer of fine wines from France. As well as a wine list consultant for Italian restaurants in the Las Vegas area. I have participated in the five star and wine without walls judging as well. And I'm excited to talk to you today about grapes from Italy. The first one I'm going to talk about is Caricante. So I remember having a very visceral reaction the first time I tasted caracate. It's vibrant acidity made my eyes open wide and I quickly went to a happy place in my head. My smile was so big. It made my cheeks hurt. Where had this wine been all of my life? You may have had this before and not even known it possibly as part of a blend in Anetna Bianco. Along with Colorado of which Caricante is often confused with. Aetna Bianco requires a minimum of sixty percent Caricante. And Aetna Bianco Superior requires eighty percent minimum of Caricante. It also can be blended with Manila, although it's becoming a little bit more scarce. The remarkable acidity and high yields have seen for more producers on that and are planting more of this white grape. And more single varietal bla bottlings as well. The name Caricante is probably from the Italian word, carica, which means load, likely from the aforementioned high yields of the scrape. It's an ancient variety thought to have been growing on Mount Aetna for at least a thousand years and has considered one of the top white Greek varietals varieties in all of Italy. In the vineyard, this grape thrives on Mount Aetna, especially at high elevation, even nine hundred meters above sea level, where Norella Moskaleza doesn't usually fully ripen. The bunches themselves are medium large in size. They're cylindrical and conical and long in shape. With medium loose bunches of the grapes themselves, the berries are medium in size and elliptical in shape. They are thick skinned, but they can also be easily sunburned. It is a good and dependable producer. In the glass, it has a pale, straw, yellow color. Sometimes it even has tinges of gold. It is sometimes referred to Sicily's riesling as there are tertiary notes of flinted petroleum. It also has fresh herbs, chamomile, and lemon zest on the nose. On the palette, the acidity shines, and the lemon is intensified. Fresh sage, orange blossom, green apple, and beautiful minerality round out the flavors. It is high in acid, which makes it for which makes for a lovely long tingly finish. It's a very versatile white wine. It'll pair with curries and other aromatic spicy foods. Along with Aronchini, sardines, or even a nice fennel salad. Seek out, Benanti, Tonatorre, Pietra Dolce, Altamora, or planeta for some wonderful producers and great examples of this wine. Caturato Bianco Camune or also known as common white Catterato. This is the most widely planted white grape in Sicily, and it's only found on the island. It accounts for approximately thirty six percent of all of Sicily's vineyard plantings. It's found all over Sicily from east to west, from flat land to the slopes of Mount Aetna. In the bottle, it can be found in many forms, part of the blend in Marcella, in a single ver varietal bottling or in a white blend, generally blended with a caracate, grillo chardonnay, or in Zolia. Historically, the grape was used to make everyday drinking wines of no consequence. And also notably used in Marcella. In the nineteen nineties, the potential for making quality wines was recognized. And now we have the modern version of what we drink today. It has been cultivated in Sicily for centuries and specifically in trappany where you'll find it most commonplace. It is an Altak tennis varietal, meaning it is an old established grape variety that originated in a specific region in this case, the island of sisley. In the vineyard, the bunches of Colorado, Bianco commune are medium in size and can be conical or cylindrical in shape. They range from sparse to compact. The berries are medium with a round oval shape. They have thick skins and they tend to have lots of blue. In the glass, it shows itself straw yellow in color. The aromas and the palate are in harmony as you will find similar notes in both the nose and on the palate as well. Sage, ripe citrus fruits. Pineapple, honey, banana, thyme, and sometimes even a little butter with fuller bodied examples, much like a rich chardonnay, but also a little bitter similar or reminiscent of almonds on the finish. It's a medium to full bodied wine and can be almost racing like when grown in higher elevations or sometimes a bit flabby went for the examples that are grown on the flat flat lands. Food pairings that work nicely are, grilled shrimp, pasta a la longuele or even vitalo to natto, even though that comes from but the the tuna sauce that goes with it is a really nice pairing. Producers to look for, Fueeto Desisa, the lubanku, a hundred percent example, Donna Fugato, or Cantina pellegrino. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and break the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time, teaching.