The Frappato Grape

(Synonyms: Frappato di Vittoria, Frappato Nero, Frappatu, Nero Capitano, Surra.)

Background

Frappato is a red-wine grape originating in Sicily, more particularly in the province of Ragusa, which remains its home today. Frappato is often blended with Nero d’Avola, particularly in a famed blend called “Cerasuolo di Vittoria”, but it is increasingly bottled as a monovarietal.

Frappato’s calling card, so to speak, is its much-mentioned sense of “freshness”, and it brims with light-red fruit qualities on both the nose and the palate. In body, Frappato wines are light to medium—sometimes described as “delicate” or even “gossamer”; and they have some definite acidity, which doubtless contributes to that quality of freshness so often cited. The perfumed nose of Frappatos is said to be memorable.

Factoid: Frappato is genetically related to quite a number of other Italian wine grapes, and is quite probably itself a crossing of Sangiovese and another yet-unidentified variety.

Some Descriptions of Frappato Wines

Wikipedia
“Frappato produces light bodied wines with a distinct grapey aroma…It is…likely that Frappato is a crossing of Sangiovese and another, so far unidentified, grape variety.”
Wine Searcher
“Cherry-colored, aromatic and low in tannins, varietal Frappato wines are light bodied and slightly reminiscent of good Beaujolais.”
Wine Folly
“A rare, fruity find from Sicily, Frappato bursts with aromas of sweet red berries and incense spice. It’s sometimes blended with Nero d’Avola to add complexity.”
Eric Asimov, The New York Times
“Reds like frappato have gained popularity in recent years as consumers have come to appreciate wines that rely on freshness rather than power. Twenty-five years ago it was an entirely different story, as producers in Sicily were betting on international varieties like merlot and cabernet, but tastes have evolved. Nowadays, consumers are far more interested in indigenous grapes like frappato than those grown everywhere else in the world.”
opening a bottle
“In recent years, Sicily’s winemakers have started to embrace Frappato’s unique characteristics to make a light-bodied varietal wine that partners well with the local cuisine…Sipping Frappato for the first time can feel like a spin on the roulette wheel of the world’s wines. My first taste reminded me of the strawberry notes of a Grenache. Yet another bottle brought to mind the game-like flavors of Barbera d’Asti. And my most recent taste recalled an oaky Sangiovese. What remains consistent, however, is a fruit-profile that resembles strawberries, as well as an energetic acidity that gives these wines a great deal of versatility with food.”
Sally Easton, M.W., Wine Wisdom
“Modern technology and knowledge has fundamentally improved the fate of frappato…[Marco] Calcaterra describes frappato as a semi-aromatic variety saying ‘it has a good concentration of terpenic compounds, though not as much as muscat.’ These are what give frappato its floral and blossom aromas…Despite needing close attention to colour development, frappato retains its acidity well in the basking warmth of southern Sicily.”
L’Italo-Americano
“As wine market attention continues to bend away from big, oaky wines of impenetrable color toward better appreciation of lighter-bodied, lighter hued wines of finesse and elegance, Frappato, I suspect, will be more and more on the radar…The lightness of Frappato isn’t completely due to varietal character alone. Where Frappato is grown in soil with very high sand content, say Salmè, for example, wines tend to be lighter and more delicate, as opposed to, say, Valle dell’Acate, where more clay in the soil gives wines a fuller body…In monovarietal bottlings, you should find Frappato to make pale red wines that are light to medium in body, with vivid notes of cherry, strawberry, violets and herbs.”
Drink Italian
“ Frappato vinified alone provides an excellent wine ruby, brilliant, beautiful vinous, fruity clearly as the name etymologically calls the wine, but also with floral scents…The palate has a medium body, with soft tannins and a fresh and fruity taste, light. In some of the most important wine-making takes on a ruby colour with purple hues.”
Fringe Wine
“The grape is known for the light colored wines it produces, but if you associate lightly colored wines with lightly scented and flavored wines, Frappato has a surprise for you.”

Some Frappatos to Try

For a Splurge

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.

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