Hugonis Cabernet Sauvignon/Nero d’Avola Sicilia I.G.T. 2012
Tenuta Rapitalà
Hugonis with its powerful and austere style is the most prized product of Tenuta Rapitalà, the legacy wine. The seal of Hugonis Bernardi – a knight in armor with two leopards – which appears on the label, is the coat-of-arms of the family of Hugues Bernard de la Gatinais and his son, Laurent.
Terroir: 100% estate-grown fruit is sourced from Nero d’Avola and Cabernet Sauvignon plots situated between 1,000 and 1,300 feet above sea level on rich, clay soils. Guyot-trained vines have limited yields of 28 quintals per acre.
Vinification: The grapes are harvested in mid-September. Each parcel is harvested and vinified separately in small, stainless steel vats with long macerations, over two weeks for the Cabernet Sauvignon and one week for the Nero d’Avola. At the end of fermentation,
the wines are transferred to French oak barriques (50% new and 50% second and third passage) where they are left to mature for 18 months before being blended and bottled. The resulting wine rests in bottle for six months before release.
Laurent de la Gatinais discusses Hugonis
Additional Information
With an attractive red ruby color with medium-high intensity, in the nose it surprises for a powerful fruit remarkably blended with traces from its noble ageing: coconut and toffee, evolving into seductive nuances of spices and Mediterranean bush. The attack is truly powerful and develops in the mouth a pleasant sensation of volume which drives us to a long finish, nervous and fresh due to its optimum acidity, and bringing back an aftertaste with red fruits and again Mediterranean bushes.
Technical Details
- Appellation: Sicilia IGT
- Sustainability: Sustainable Practices
- Soil: Loose clay, sand
- Alcohol: 14%
- Ttl Acidity: 5 g/l
- Residual Sugar: 3.7 g/l
- Sizes Available: 750ml, 1.5L
- Pack Size: 6/750ml
- Varietals: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Nero d’Avola
Recent Press
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Score: 90 Points
The Wine Advocate Author: Monica Larner
Date: Monday, January 4, 2016"A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Nero d'Avola, the 2012 Hugonis (an IGT Terre Siciliane wine) is a dark and masculine Sicilian red. The bouquet definitely reveals the Cabernet element thanks to tangy aromas of dark fruit followed by grilled herb and wild blackberry. The mouthfeel is thick, chewy and rich. Hugonis shows the warm climate characteristics of southern Mediterranean winemaking. There is a sweet note of jammy cherry and pressed mint at the back. This vintage is bold and perhaps less nuanced compared to previous editions of Hugonis. "
