Natural Sicilian Frappato by COS
For many years, COS Frappato has been a favorite on our team. We love bringing it to the table alongside Peking Duck—a pairing that sounds unexpected until you actually try it. The bright fruit, floral character, savory notes, and refreshing acidity of Frappato make it an almost absurdly good match for the rich, crispy, sweet-and-savory flavors of the duck.
COS was founded by Giambattista Cilia, Cirino Strano, and Giusto Occhipinti, three of the early pioneers of the natural wine movement in Sicily. Long before “natural wine” became a category on a wine list, COS was working with indigenous Sicilian varieties, including grapes like Frappato that were in danger of disappearing. Their approach was simple but radical for the time: farm thoughtfully, intervene as little as possible in the cellar, and let the grapes and the place speak for themselves.
Frappato is one of the great beneficiaries of that philosophy. It is not a grape that wins you over with size or power. Instead, it is all about nuance, perfume, texture, and freshness. The 2024 COS Frappato has an abundance of floral character, along with crunchy red fruit, subtle earthiness, and the kind of lively acidity that makes you immediately want another sip. It is delicate without being precious.
This is consistently one of our favorite wines from Sicily because it does something that is increasingly difficult to find: it has personality without excess. You can drink it slightly chilled on a warm afternoon, put it on the dinner table, or serve it to someone who insists they only drink “serious” reds and watch them reconsider their position.
There is, however, one major flaw with this wine: the traditionally shaped bottle refuses to fit neatly into any standard wine rack. It sticks out, refuses to cooperate, and seems to have decided that modern wine storage is simply beneath it. Our solution? Embrace it. Buy the whole case and keep them together.
It is an excellent excuse to have a twelve-bottle supply of one of Sicily's most consistently delicious wines—and if you happen to need to store the bottles somewhere other than a wine rack, well, that's a problem for Future You.
94 Points, James Suckling
Overt and spicy, showing elegant black-pepper aromas with black cherries, leather and earthy notes. Vinous and juicy. Medium-bodied, it shines with lightness, offering a silky texture and fragrant, crunchy tannins well-tamed and sustained by crisp acidity. Delicious. Drink now. (AF)