I love sitting at the bar at A16 in San Francisco- I always learn something new from those bartenders! Last time I was treated to a taste of this beautiful Dry Zibbibo (a clone of Moscato native to the Sicilian island of Pantelleria). Normally this grape would be picked late, dried and made into an honeyed, liquid-amber sweet wine. This was something altogether different.
The Cinque Denti dry Zibbibo is sparky: fully of volcanic minerality and salty sea spray. It’s like lightening on the palate, zipping in with bright acidity, and then vanishing cleanly, leaving only lightly smoky mineral traces in its place. This wine was perfect with A16’s fresh anchovy pizza, the spice from Calabrian chili underscored by the wine’s salty preserved-lemon flavors.
***Please join me at A16 tomorrow, Wednesday May 2, for a Banville & Jones portfolio tasting, from noon- 4 pm. There won’t be any Dry Zibbibo, but we will have plenty of geeky Italian wine for your sampling pleasure. Hope to see you there!