Caruso & Minini

Earlier this year we offered the wines of OCCHIPINTI, the young genius wine maker spearheading the new paradigm of Sicilian wine. In our latest Monopole offer, we present the wines of CARUSO & MININI, another neo-classical star in the making. These are volcanic wines, born of the alluvial red soil of this ancient island, made with ancient, indigenous varieties. Inzolia is responsible for the white, Frappato is the Rose and the reds are Frappato, Nerello Mascalese & Nero d'Avola. These wines fall into the dangerously smashable catagory. They are simply so much too much fun to drink - utterly, utterly delicious.



SICILY, despite its small size, it is the biggest nett contributor to Italy's total production with 17.5% of the volume. It is also possibly the oldest producer of wines, even being mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the land of trained vines. In recent years it has struggled under the weight of it's association with The Godfather and the Mafia. It is now becoming primarily a gastronomic destination thanks to its incredible food and wine producers like CARUSO & MININI and the more dubious aspects of her reputation have been shed. Featuring in Season 2 of The White Lotus on TV has seen huge renewed interest in tourism - who wouldn't want a bit of Sicily? (Watch this show if you have not already).



In the late 1800's Antonio Caruso purchased some stunning vineyards near the island's west coast and began growing grapes. They quickly became one of the most important growers in the region and built their Baglio in 1904, and it still houses the family and the winery today. In the mid 1900's, Nino Caruso began to make and bottle his own wine. Teaming up with the Minini family at the start of this century, the company is now helmed by the inimitable Caruso sisters Giovanna & Rosanna (pictured up top).

This part of Sicily is known for its volcanic soils, and the wines are all made naturally with indigenous varieties. This fantastic set of new releases is about buzzy energy and fresh acidity. The white is called ZOLI and is made from Inzolia. There's a beautiful chalky minerality to the wine backed by savoury lemon pithe, it boasts electrifying acidity that folds into the intense fruit profile, with great length. The FRAPPO Rosé is a revelation and one of the most striking wines I've tried this year. Made with Frappato, this is not like any Rosé you've tried. Varietally it is recognisable as Frappato, it seems at first like a red wine in spirit with an ample fruit weight, but the acidity then races with the pale colour and the wine streamlines. What makes it unique is a veritable tsunami of white peach, white apricot flavours, white rose petal notes along with wild strawberries and a bang of safron. This is way more serious than your average Rosé but just as much fun to drink (bottle did not seem 750ml!).



...known for its volcanic soils, and the wines are all made naturally with indigenous varieties. This fantastic set of new releases is about buzzy energy and fresh acidity...

FRAPPELLO is made from Frappato & Nerello Mascalese. Nerello Mascalese is becoming more well known, possibly because of it's favourable moniker; the Barolo of the South. This wine utilises Frappato to soften and brighten the Nerello, adding crunchy bright fruit. NEBACCO is Nero d'Avola, wild and untamed but somehow elegant & sophisticated. As Jacis Robinson wrote of it: You could not possibly cram more explosively juicy fruit into this wine without exploding the bottle - Kapow! Interestingly in the same article they write that it is just as good after 5 days open and with a chill. Frankly I cannot see how it lasted that long.

We have recently added to the range and more or less have the full quota now! In the same bracket as the above red is the SIRA Syrah. Then above them we have serious reds PERRIPO a rare Siciliant variety and VUALA and premium Nero. CATALU is premium Cattarrato.

We have olive oil as well as a MARSALA, and the late harvest TAGOS, sweet wine made with Grillo as well as the entry level Tasari wines: a white made with Grillo and a red made with Nero.