2014 Tenuta Rapitalà Chardonnay Sicilia Grand Cru

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 88.8 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View forceberry's profile
  • Report Issue

  10/13/2016 - forceberry wrote: 84 Points

  The grapes are sourced from a vineyard planted in 1982, located at the altitude of 450 meters. Fermented partly in steel and mid-way through fermentation the wine is racked into oak barriques, where the wine is kept for another 12 months on the lees. 14% alcohol.
  
  Quite intense straw yellow color. Somewhat restrained and quite oak-driven nose with aromas of nutty wood, ripe citrus fruits, some creaminess, a little bit of waxy yellow fruits, light banana tones and a hint of smoke. The wine is full-bodied, rich and oily on the palate with quite oak-driven flavors of nutty oak, creaminess, some sweet toasty oak spice, a little bit of ripe red apples, light citrus fruit tones, a hint of woody bitterness and a touch of caramel. Despite its big, concentrated body, the wine comes across as quite nicely structured and focused, thanks to its moderately high acidity. The finish is ripe, sweet-toned and lengthy with rich flavors of bright citrus fruits, stony minerality, some toasty oak spice, light oaky nuttiness, a little bit of creamy oak, a hint of vanilla and a touch of honeydew melon. The high alcohol make the wine finish on a quite mouthwarming note.
  
  This is a bright and structured Chardonnay that sees just way too much oak. The wine manages to carry itself gracefully and the fruit actually has enough intensity to somewhat cut through all the oak, but the emphasis here is definitely on the pronounced wood tones, not on the fruit. The wine could show half the oak it does now and still it would feel noticeably oaky for a Chardonnay. Thanks to the balanced, structured fruit, this wine could actually turn into something quite impressive and Burgundian if given enough age - probably more than 15 years - but for current consumption the wine is just way too oaky for my palate. The score reflects my preference for less oaky wines; if you are more tolerant of heavily oaked Chardonnays, adjust the rating accordingly.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View trastevere's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/25/2016 - trastevere wrote: 89 Points

  Young, with banana and buttery aromas, and lush peaches and cream on the palate.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View trastevere's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/24/2016 - trastevere wrote: 89 Points

  Still to evolve, at the moment enjoyable for its banana and buttery aromas and its pure peach fruit linked to a firm finish.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.