Donnafugata, Sedara

Every so often our wine distributors invite us to tastings of their selections.  This summer I was invited to climb on board a riverboat (well, it looked like one, but was actually just a boat with a fake riverboat wheel stuck to the side) and try the wines from Folio Distributors.  Since I rarely decline an opportunity to try wines for free I showed up (with Kevin Shinn, an owner of bread&cup) at the dock just in time to set sail on the Missouri River.  Folio wines is run by Michael Mondavi, son of Robert Mondavi.  Michael was on board and was a great host.  He stood in front of us and talked about how they select wines, why he is still in the wine business and various other interesting stories.  Then it was time to drink some wine.  At shows like this I general become quite picky.  I'm not just going from table to table and trying as much as possible.  I become quite selective.  I usually hang pretty close to my wine rep and ask what I should not miss.  She was very helpful on this occasion and I was able to try some excellent wines.  

As the time was winding down I approached Michael Mondavi and asked him, "What do I want to make sure I do not miss?"  He quickly brought me to the table with Sedara from Donnafugata.  This is a wine from Sicilia (Sicily) and is 100% Nero d' Avola.  I was immediately taken by the label on the bottle.  I could see the vineyard on an Island in the Mediterranean.  I could see the dust on the ground, the sun.  It felt old world.  When I first caught a smell of the aroma of the wine I was taken off guard.  There was a light tobacco or earthy nose with a slight hint of berry far underneath.  When I tasted the wine for the first time I noticed really well balanced dark berries and a little cherry.  Just enough tannins to allow the finish to linger, but dry enough to clean the tongue.  It had a major characteristic that I look for in wine.  It was memorable.  It made me want to sit down and think about life.  Create art.  Read a novel.  It somehow made me want to long for the greater things in life.  I know, it's a glass of wine.  

I immediately pre-ordered two cases for our little restaurant.  For various reasons it took nearly 3 1/2 months for the wine to get to us.  I could not wait to open a bottle and see if it was as good as I remembered.  I worried that maybe it had just been one of the last wines I tasted after an afternoon on a boat.  I had nothing to worry about.  The nose hit me and I knew where I wanted to be.  I wanted to be sitting next to a fire enjoying good conversation and sipping on a glass of this Sedara.  I am truly tempted to buy it all myself and not let anyone else try it.  But alas, it must be shared.  

At bread&cup we have a just obtained a license to be able to sell wines off-premise.  What this means is that you can buy any bottle of wine from our list and take it with you.   We will also have a section (5 or 6 wines) that is intended to be taken away from our store and enjoyed elsewhere.  If you want to enjoy one of these wines in our store there will be a corkage fee.  It is a great way for us to be able to provide very good wine in an affordable way.  

All this to say, Sedara is in our "take away" section (I'm still working on a name for it) for $26 a bottle.  As far as I know, we are the only place in Nebraska you can buy this wine.  Stop by and pick up a bottle.  See where it takes you.