Frappato

Frappato is a light-bodied, intensely aromatic red wine grape native to south-eastern Sicily, where it is best known as the fragrant junior partner to Nero d'Avola in Cerasuolo di Vittoria, the island's only DOCG. Pale ruby in the glass and low in tannin, it leads with bright wild strawberry, raspberry and red cherry lifted by violet, rose and a peppery, herbal edge. High acidity and a delicate, juicy frame make it one of Italy's classic "chillable" reds — a wine for warm weather, served lightly cool. Grown on the sandy and calcareous soils around Vittoria and Ragusa, it is prized less for power than for perfume, freshness and drinkability.