Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Valle dell’Acate Il Frappato Vittoria Frappato DOC Sicilia 2015

Written by Allison Levine on October 14, 2017

Wine

Frappato. I just love saying it as it rolls off the tongue. It was a word I kept repeating as I opened a of Valle dell’Acate Il Frappato Vittoria Frappato DOC Sicilia 2015 and poured it into my glass this week. Fun to say and tasty to drink, that is why it is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

There are hundreds of grape varieties indigenous to Italy. One of these varieties is Frappato which comes from the coast of Sicily. When you think Sicilian red wine, you might think Nero d’Avola, which is the main grape of the region. But Frappato is typically blended with Nero d’Avola for Sicily’s first and only DOCG Cerasuola di Vittoria.

The Valle dell’Acate Il Frappato Vittoria Frappato DOC Sicilia 2015 comes from the area around the town of Vittoria in the province of Ragusa. Vittoria DOC can be red (frappato and nero d’avola) or white (ansonica). Valle dell’Acate was founded by Giuseppe Jacono at the end of the 19th century and today is run by the 6th generation of the Jacono famly, along with the Ferreri family. The 100 hectares under Valle dell’Acate consist of seven distinct soils and the grapes in Il Frappato come from black soil with white pebbles.

Valle dell’Acate Il Frappato is 100% frappato. It is a ruby color wine with bright fruit aromas of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries as well as violet and herbal notes of sage. It is light-bodied with medium acidity and low in tannins. It is a wine that can be enjoyed with a variety of dishes, from cheese and salami to pasta and pizza to meats. It can also be chilled and enjoyed on its own. Such a versatile wine, Valle dell’Acate Il Frappato Vittoria Frappato DOC Sicilia 2015 is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Geezer’s Public House in Woodland Hills, CA

Written by Allison Levine on October 12, 2017

Food Cocktails

When I was first invited to check out Geezer’s Public House in Woodland Hills, being an American, I thought it was odd that a bar was the name of a cranky old man. But the word Geezer has a different meaning in British culture. Geezer’s is a public house, or a pub, which is a popular social drinking establishment in Britain.

As posted outside the restrooms at Geezer’s, a geezer is a “descriptive word in the UK used to define a man’s characteristics. A geezer will be found usually outside a pub with a pint in his hand on match day. They commonly like football, scrapping, beer, tea, tits, and Barry White.” Basically, a geezer in British terms is a “guy” or a “bloke” or a “dude”.

A New Vintage and A New Winemaker At the Head of Domaine Leflaive

Written by Allison Levine on October 11, 2017

Wine

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.

The 2017 harvest is well under way in the Northern Hemisphere, and Puligny-Montrachet in the Cote d’Or in Burgundy, France is no exception. According to their website, at Domaine Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet, harvest took place from Aug. 29-Sept. 5. And the 2017 harvest marks the first vintage with a new winemaker at this historic winery.

Domaine Leflaive was created by Joseph Leflaive in 1910 but the Leflaive family has been established residents in Puligny-Montrachet since 1717. Joseph’s children, Vincent and Joseph-Regis, inherited the property upon his death in 1953 and in 1990, Vincent’s daughter Anne-Claude Leflaive and Joseph-Regis’ son Oliver became co-directors. Upon Anne-Claude’s death in 2015, Brice de la Morandiere, great grandson of the founder Joseph Leflaive took charge.

Under Anne-Claude’s control, famed Burgundy winemaker Pierre Morey made the wine at Domaine Leflaive from 1988-2008, followed by Eric Remy from 2008-2017. In January 2017, under Brice de la Morandiere, oenologist Pierre Vincent became the new general manager.