RISERVA MENFI DOC
Coda della Foce is a beautiful wine in a fine clothing, someone said: stylish, never intrusive, feeling at ease in every situation, and charmingly seductive.
It is a selection of Nero d’Avola grapes grown in Tenuta Belicello, hand picked and accurately vinified before a long refining in oak barrels. It is produced only in the best vintages that are able to develop longevity and a superior quality.
Sicilian by birth, a world citizen by choice of life.
The vineyard grows in the heart of Tenuta Belicello, a few steps from the Mediterranean Sea. The microclimate here is very favorable: dominant breezes blow from the ocean during the day, and from the Belìce Valley at night, a constant flow that freshens air temperatures and contributes to prevent humidity stagnation.
The grapes are hand picked and selected in mid-September.
Immediately brought to the winery after the harvest, they are destemmed and crushed, and undergo spontaneous fermentation on the skins for about two weeks in stainless steel tanks. Also malolactic is spontaneous, in old French barriques.
After racking, the wine is refined for a minimum of 12 months in French tonneaux. At the end of the first year of refining, the best barrels are selected to make the blend that will refine for at least one more year (but often two years) in a big Slavonian oak barrel.
Bottled without fining nor filtration, Coda della Foce ages in bottles for at least one year before being released to the market.
Coda della Foce is the wine I choose for every special moments, and whenever I look for an intense and pleasant tasting experience.
It is a complex, elegant, harmonic and powerful wine, which fruity aromas are enriched by the fresh and voluptuous notes of the Mediterranean shrub.
The wine has a dark ruby red color with a deep purple hue, and reveals an intense bouquet of rose and violet, fruity notes of raspberry jam and the finest sweet spices. On the palate, it is full and well balanced: notes of red berries and black cacao powder enrich its good structure and smooth tannins. Dark and pleasant mineral tones on the finish.
It is perfect with braised red meats, with veal Spezzatino, game birds and matured cheeses like the Caciocavallo Ragusano DOP or the Pecorino cheese with pepper seeds from the Belice Valley area. My favorite combination is with Valrhona Guanaja 70% black chocolate, not extremely bitter and very tasty.
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 57 - 61 °F
Coda della Foce can be best appreciated if poured in large Bordeaux style glasses. If kept at cellar temperature it develops amazing complexity and supplies an intense tasting pleasure. Its long refining suggests to open the bottle a few hours before tasting, in order to give the wine a chance to aerate, enhancing subtle flavors and aromas, and making an enormous difference to its character. Decanting is usually not necessary, unless you are drinking an older bottle.
