Wednesday Wine Tip - 21.02.24

Integer Zibibbo by Marco de Bartoli

Volcanic Fruit Cocktail

Wine: Integer Zibibbo

Winemaker: Marco de Bartoli

Origin: Sicily, Italy

Grapes: 100% Zibibbo

Method: 10 days of maceration in open vats or clay amphora, about a year on the lees in clay amphora before bottling

This week's Wednesday Wine Tip is the Sicilian masterpiece Integer Zibibbo from Marco de Bartoli. It's one of my all-time favorite orange wines, and the new vintage (2021) just came out, tasting better than ever. This wine is everything I want from a macerated Zibibbo, smells like an exotic fruit cocktail, and the taste follows it up and delivers everything you hoped for and more.

For those of you who are not familiar with the grape Zibibbo, you might have heard about the grape family of Muscat. It's a large (and old) grape family, often used for dessert wines. Muscat of Alexandria is one of the more famous grape varieties in that family, and one of my favorite wine grapes to make orange wine from. Zibibbo is the Sicilian version of Muscat of Alexandria, both originating from Egypt a long time ago.

It's usually very easy to recognize an orange wine made from this grape, because of its very strong smell of tropical exotic fruit and flowers like pineapple, guava, elderflower, peach, passion fruit, and more than I bother listing up. As a white wine, I find them incredibly boring, so the real power behind these grapes is in the skins (of course).

The name Integer (in Latin meaning whole) is used on these wines to represent the whole of their territory. Only local grape varieties are manually selected and fermented with wild yeast, with no punching down or punch-over during the maceration that takes place in open vats and clay amphora. They age in the same containers for about a year with the lees to give the wine depth and texture, and finish without filtering, only natural decantering to clear the wine.

Marco de Bartoli, a former professional race car driver turned visionary winemaker, revitalized his family's vineyard near Marsala, Sicily, with a dedication to traditional and innovative winemaking practices. Emphasizing the Grillo grape's unique qualities for Marsala wine, he reconstructed the old family cellar and collected ancient solera barrels to produce unfortified "Vecchio Samperi" and the fortified "Superiore" line. By the 1990s, Marco, with his children, expanded into making dry white wines from Grillo and Zibibbo grapes, focusing on organic farming and native yeast fermentations. The introduction of the "Integer" line in 2006 marked a significant shift towards fully embracing the land's potential, emphasizing terroir over uniformity. This commitment to authenticity and quality has positioned the de Bartoli estate as a beacon of innovation and tradition in Sicilian winemaking.

The album "Caravelle" by Polo & Pan

For this week's first combination, I am recommending pairing Integer Zibibbo with the playful and energetic album "Caravelle" from the tropical masters Polo & Pan. You might have heard some of their songs before, ranging from the perfect lounge music in the background of a pool party, to club bangers late at night on the dancefloor.

This album puts me into a tropical mood, even when surrounded by snow, ice, and the cold. It also has some surprising songs that change the vibe like the banger Kirghiz which makes you want to dance, and Pays imaginaire that is a unique cover of Claire de Lune that I couldn't stop listening to for a week. Open a bottle of Integer Zibibbo and play this album, I promise you will feel warmer on the inside.

Sunlight

This one hurt a bit to recommend in February when I live in Norway and so do most of my followers. Sadly, it is one of the best pairings with this wine and it's a reason I didn't say sun tanning on the beach. Luckily for me at the time I am writing this, I am currently in Lisbon enjoying the sunlight and on my way to Cabo Verde to enjoy an even warmer sun. My heart goes out to everyone still in Norway or the northern climates.

But before you scroll in hate and envy, remember this orange wine for when the sun does warm your body and mind yet again. It is an amazing summer wine that I have enjoyed many a warm day in the sun. So if all you can manage now is to get some sunlight through your window on a chilly February day, I would say that is good enough for now.

Dahi Puri

The last pairing for this week's wine is perhaps not the most well-known dish, especially not in the wine pairing world. It is a delicious street food snack from India that combines different textures and flavours into a bomb for your mouth. I tried this combination during one of my events around a year ago, when I teamed up with the Norwegian Indian restaurant Der Peppern Gror. We served their Dahi Puri with Marco de Bartoli's Integer Zibibbo and it was such a fun and unique pairing that blew my mind.

It's not the most complicated dish to make at home, and if you want to try you can follow this recipe.

Enjoy!