WineAlign

• By Michael Godel
  10/2/2017 (link)

  (Cos Rami Sicilia white) Subscribe to see review text.

JancisRobinson.com

• By Julia Harding, MW
  4/18/2016 (link)

  (Cos, Rami Igt Terre Siciliane White) Subscribe to see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Sicilian Island Wine, 7/20/2018

  (COS Rami Bianco) Hello friends. Sometimes, life gets in the way of living. The trip gets canceled due to family or postponed because of work and suddenly, you’ve never been to Santorini. Or Australia. Or driven from Napa to Sonoma. That is one of the things I love so much about wine—in a world full of responsibilities that sometimes prevent us from doing all of the things we want to do, wine provides a little getaway. Wine lets us into places that we’ve never been, it introduces us to people we’ve never met—and it fills us with the hope of possibility. And so today, with four wines, we all get to visit Sicily. Between a wild, mountainous interior and the sandy beaches that run along the 1,000 kilometers of coastline, Sicily’s soil ranges from marine sediment to rugged limestone to deeply volcanic. The island’s wine scene has flown surprisingly under the radar despite an ancient history dating back to 750 BC. While much of the region has been historically used to create bulk wine, there are plenty of small, boutique wineries making extraordinary juice. These are wines built and born by the sea, volcanoes, and a thousand-year-old civilization; Sicilian wines are in ancient history. With their intense minerality, acidity, and rustic earthiness, the wines of this southern Italian island have become a new obsession for Team Full Pull.At the farthest tip of southeastern Sicily lays COS, a young winery doing very old, ancient things. This region is Italian, but lays closer to Tunisia and Malta than many parts of Italy, and is inspired by both regions. The winery opened in 1980, and the three friends who founded it were the youngest winemakers in Italy at the time. Inspired by the heritage and ancient winemaking of the lands they farmed, COS decided to farm biodynamically, and use ancient terracotta vases to vinify their wine. Today, the winery uses large amphoras dug into the ground to to make many of their wines. This is technically a reoffer from last year—and still utterly fantastic upon a recent tasting. COS Rami is a blend of 50/50 Grecanico and Insolia and is certified organic. These grapes grow in a mixture of red soil clay and limestone near the winery. Fermented and aged in concrete, the wine goes through spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts. It presents almost like a baby orange wine—a great gateway into the world of interesting, funky whites. So frequently we talk about the benefits of a little bottle age on white wines—this is a perfect example ready to drink right now. The listed alcohol is 12%. The nose opens with bright, citrusy orange marmalade, pears, salty sea water, honey, and fresh beeswax. The palate is tannic for a white wine, due to some extended skin contact. It’s thought provoking, but not overwhelming, with citrus orange and salinity leading the way through an unctuous mouthfeel and long finish. Though this is drinking beautifully now, it’s a wine that was built to age—it will continue to develop and deepen over the years to come. Wine Enthusiast: Copyrighted material withheld.

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Island Wines, 9/14/2017

  (COS Rami Bianco) Hello friends. Sometimes, life gets in the way of living. The trip gets canceled due to family or postponed because of work and suddenly, you’ve never been to Sicily. Or Australia. Or driven from Napa to Sonoma. That is one of the things I love so much about wine—in a world full of responsibilities that sometimes prevent us from doing all of the things we want to do, wine provides a little getaway. Wine lets us into places that we’ve never been, it introduces us to people we’ve never met, and it fills us with the hope of possibility. And nothing does this better than island wines. Wines built and born by the sea, volcanoes, and thousand-year-old civilizations, island wines are rich in ancient history. They are reminiscent of the places they come from—infuenced by the unique terroir and culture of a land removed from the rest of the world by geography. Today, we have six wines for you from three different islands: Santorini, Sardinia, and Sicily. All of these wines represent the island they call home—and they give the drinker just a small peek into the life they could live there. SANTORINI Santorini is an island steeped in history—from the basket-weaved method by which they grow their grapes (known as koulara) to the ancient vines that still stand without fear of phylloxera (the volcanic soil of Santorini has minimal clay, which prevents the disease from growing). Considering how ancient this region is, it’s almost surprising that it’s still one of Greece’s most exciting wine regions. The relationship between the indigenous grapes of the island, the millennia-old volcanic soil, and the sea mists that water the grapes create wines that are intensely mineral-driven, beautiful acidic, and reminiscent of the sea water that feeds them.Sardinia Between a wild, mountainous interior and the sandy beaches that run along the 1,149 miles of coastline, Sardinia’s soil ranges from actual sea sand to cracked, pebbled granite. These broadly ranging types of earth lend themselves to many different grapes, giving Sardinia a robust and divergent portfolio. From sun-soaked Vermentino to gravely Cannonau (the local name for Grenache), Sardinia’s consistency lies in its island influenced wines. These wines would not exist anywhere else—the microclimate terroir of Sardinia makes them possible.Sicily Sicily’s wine scene has flown surprisingly under the radar despite a history dating back to 750 BC. While much of the region has been used to create bulk wine or marsala cooking wine, there are still plenty of small, boutique wineries making extraordinary juice.  Like most islands, the terroir of Sicily is deeply volcanic, which lends minerality, acidity, and a rustic earthiness to the wines.At the farthest tip of southeastern Sicily lays COS, a young winery doing very old, ancient things. This region is Italian, but lays closer to Tunisia and Malta than many parts of Italy, and is inspired by both regions. The winery opened in 1980, and the three friends who founded it were the youngest winemakers in Italy at the time. Inspired by the heritage and ancient winemaking of the lands they farmed, COS decided to farm biodynamically, and use ancient terracotta vases to vinify their wine. Today, the winery uses large amphoras dug into the ground to to make many of their wines. This is technically a reoffer from last year—and still utterly fantastic upon a recent tasting. COS Rami is a blend of 50/50 Grecanico and Insolia and is certified organic. These grapes grow in a mixture of red soil clay and limestone near the winery. Fermented and aged in concrete, the wine goes through spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts. It presents almost like a baby orange wine—a great gateway into the world of interesting, funky whites. So frequently we talk about the benefits of a little bottle age on white wines—this is a perfect example ready to drink right now. The listed alcohol is 12%. The nose opens with bright, citrusy orange marmalade, pears, salty sea water, honey, and fresh beeswax. The palate is tannic for a white wine, due to some extended skin contact. It’s thought provoking, but not overwhelming, with citrus orange and salinity leading the way through an unctuous mouthfeel and long finish. Though this is drinking beautifully now, it’s a wine that was built to age—it will continue to develop and deepen over the years to come. Wine Enthusiast: Copyrighted material withheld.