Marsala, June 11, 2007 – It’s officially known as the International Wine Award but everyone calls it the Oscar of wine. And its latest presentation was staged last Saturday (June 9) at the headquarters of the Association of Italian Sommeliers (AIS) in the Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi in Rome. It was a moving and fascinating ceremony that attracted personalities of the wine sector, obviously, but also in the fields of entertainment, information and culture.
Donnafugata was selected as a finalist in balloting in which an “academy of experts” and a number of readers of the Italian wine guide Duemilavini and the magazine Bibenda as well as the “enonauts” of the www.bibenda.it website participated. Those participants voted to name Tancredi a candidate for “the best wine in the price/quality” category.
The final verdict was in favor of the Sicilian red. Therefore Oscar to Tancredi 2004 and with a citation that still reverberates in the air of the big amphitheater of the Parco dei Principi. “The Rallo family is accustomed to hearing its Ben Ryé praised. That now legendary Passito of Pantelleria heads a range of head-turning wines. We are talking here about a red that is a magnificent expression of a rich and sunny territory: limited costs and large numbers—90,000 bottles produced annually—enable the house to make itself known to a large public that appreciates the seductive fragrance of blackberries, bilberries and sweet spices. As satisfying is the extended persistence of Nero d’Avola and Cabernet Sauvignon that have matured in small barrels. And this wine forms a superb combination with game dishes”
“What can I say?” remarked a delighted Giacomo Rallo when interviewed at the ceremony. “Our link with our consumers and with their belief in an enological Sicily capable of capturing the hearts of the most demanding aficionados is strong. In Tancredi, quality and territory unite in the conception of a profoundly Mediterranean wine that is encompassing and rich in infinite shadings. And this recognition sends an important message: you can drink well at reasonable and not excessive prices. To the Rome chapter of the AIS and Franco Maria Ricci, its president, my heartfelt thanks for their commitment to diffusing knowledge of wine in Italy. Finally, I dedicate this recognition to the hills of Contessa Entellina, which continue to yield fruit of the greatest enological value.”
The award ceremony, promoted by the AIS Rome, Worldwide Sommelier Association and RAI-Uno Channel, and conducted by Franco Ricci and the noted television journalist Antonella Clerici will be telecast on RAI-Uno at 11:05 p.m., Saturday, June 16, 2007.
Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] phone +39 0923 724226
Laura Ellwanger: [email protected] phone. +39 0923 724258
Nando Calaciura [email protected] mob. +39 338 3229837