Red Grape · Sicily
The Sicilian red that behaves like a white: pale, floral, low in tannin, and best served with a chill on it.
Frappato is the pale, perfumed red of south-eastern Sicily, grown almost entirely around Vittoria in the province of Ragusa. It is the aromatic half of Cerasuolo di Vittoria, the island's only DOCG, and on its own it makes one of Italy's lightest and most drinkable reds.
Your cellar, your trips, and the wines you've been tracking are right where you left them.
New here?
Free, always. Education first, we'll never sell you anything you didn't ask to see.
Already have an account?
Enter the email you signed up with and we'll send a link to choose a new password.
Setting it straight
The anchor fact: Frappato is one of the lightest red wines in Italy, closer in weight to Pinot Nero than to Nero d'Avola, despite growing in one of the hottest corners of the country.
Taste · Where it sits
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Frappato described against grapes you already know.
One of the lightest reds in Italy and by far the lightest of note in Sicily. Set beside Nero d'Avola from the same vineyard it looks and tastes like a different category of wine.
Thick blue-black skins that somehow give almost no grip. This is why Cerasuolo di Vittoria needs Nero d'Avola for structure, and why varietal Frappato never needs decanting.
The acidity is what makes a wine this pale worth drinking, and what lets it take a chill without falling apart. Higher-toned than Nero d'Avola, though not the salt-driven cut of Etna's Nerello Mascalese.
Fresh strawberry and red cherry rather than the cooked-fruit register southern Italian reds often reach. Vittoria's sea breezes keep the fruit red rather than black.
Key flavours
The map
Frappato is light to medium, soft tannin, mapped against other red grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and grip resemble Frappato.
Is this for you?
Reach for it when…
Maybe skip it if…
Serving guide
Serve at
13-15°C
Serve it too warm and the alcohol shows while the strawberry perfume vanishes; this is a red that needs the fridge.
Decant
No
Never. The aromatics are the whole point and decanting blows them off.
Glass
Pinot Noir Glass
A Pinot Noir bowl gathers the floral top notes that a standard red glass lets escape.
Drink within
3-5 days
Drink it young while the red fruit is still bright; there is nothing to wait for.
Cellar
2-5 years
Two to five years at most for a varietal bottling. Cerasuolo di Vittoria holds longer, but only because of its Nero d'Avola.
On the table
Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.
The Sicilian default
Fried rice and ragu need acidity to cut through, and Frappato supplies it without the tannin that would make a fried dish taste metallic.
Aubergine and ricotta salata
Norma is the dish of Catania and its fried aubergine and salted ricotta want a red with lift rather than weight, which is exactly Frappato's register.
Sfincione, straight from the bakery
The oregano, anchovy and onion of sfincione would flatten a big red, but Frappato's floral top notes sit alongside them instead of fighting.
Browse every pairing
Buy it · three to start with
A curated trio across the price range, then every Frappato on sale in the UK right now.
Entry · everyday
2 retailers
Sicilia
2 retailers
£14.70
Why this one: The cheapest way to learn what the grape does on its own, before meeting it inside a Cerasuolo blend.
The sweet spot
4 retailers
Vittoria
4 retailers
£17.69
Why this one: A varietal Vittoria DOC from one of Sicily's most reliable producers, and a clean reference point for the style.
Special occasion
2 retailers
Appellation TBD
2 retailers
£34.18
Why this one: Occhipinti's Il Frappato is the bottle that made growers elsewhere take the variety seriously.
5 bottles
4 retailers
Vittoria
4 retailers
£17.69
2 retailers
Sicilia
2 retailers
£14.70
2 retailers
Vittoria
2 retailers
£20.68
2 retailers
Cerasuolo di Vittoria
2 retailers
£28.01
2 retailers
Appellation TBD
2 retailers
£34.18
Denominations
The appellations where Frappato plays a starring role.
Where it grows
Volcanic Nerello on Etna's black terraces, sun-baked Nero d'Avola on the south-east coast, fortified Marsala in Trapani and UNESCO Zibibbo on Pantelleria: Sicily holds Italy's widest single-region wine map.
The terroir
Frappato barely leaves one corner of Sicily, so its variation comes less from region to region than from how close the vineyard sits to the sea and whether the wine is bottled alone or blended.
Vittoria and Acate
Province of Ragusa, south-eastern Sicily
The heartland: sandy soils and sea breezes giving the palest, most floral expression
Chiaramonte Gulfi
Higher ground inland from Vittoria
Slightly firmer and later-ripening, often destined for the Cerasuolo blend
Caltanissetta and Siracusa
Outlying plantings
Warmer and rounder, with the red fruit edging towards ripe rather than fresh
Editorial
Frappato has been documented in south-eastern Sicily since at least the seventeenth century, and entered the national variety catalogue in 1970 under the synonym Frappato d'Italia. Even the name is unsettled: it may come from the Sicilian frappare, to strike, or from the onomatopoeic frappa-frappa. What is certain is that it stayed local. Of Italy's 752 hectares, almost all sit in the province of Ragusa around Vittoria, Acate and Comiso.
Neither grape makes Cerasuolo di Vittoria alone: Nero d'Avola gives colour, body and tannin, Frappato gives scent and lift.
On Sicily's only DOCGThe vine gives a medium, compact cylindrical-pyramidal bunch of thick-skinned blue-black berries, yet the wine that results is startlingly pale. Expect light to medium ruby with violet edges, fresh red fruit and red citrus, flowers and a whisper of spice, delicate tannin and lively acidity. Among Sicilian reds it is the opposite of the received idea: where Nero d'Avola is dark and broad, Frappato is translucent and lifted, closer in weight to Pinot Nero than to anything else grown on the island.
That contrast is the reason the two share a bottle. Cerasuolo di Vittoria, made DOCG by ministerial decree in September 2005 and still the only DOCG in Sicily, must be 50 to 70 per cent Nero d'Avola and 30 to 50 per cent Frappato. The Nero d'Avola supplies colour, body and tannin; the Frappato supplies scent and lift. Neither grape makes that wine alone, which is a useful thing to remember when you meet a varietal Frappato and find it far lighter than expected.
Frappato is authorised in eight Sicilian denominations and has become a favourite of the island's natural-wine growers, with COS and Arianna Occhipinti doing most to build its reputation abroad. Planeta bottles a varietal version under the Vittoria DOC. For the volcanic counterweight in Sicilian red wine see Nerello Mascalese and our guide to Etna wines; for the island's aromatic white, Zibibbo.
Good to know
Light and unusually perfumed for a red. Expect pale ruby colour with violet edges, aromas of strawberry, red cherry and flowers, and a fresh, juicy palate with delicate tannin and lively acidity. It is one of the lightest reds in Italy, closer in weight to Pinot Nero than to most southern varieties, and it is often served lightly chilled.
Cerasuolo di Vittoria is the only DOCG in Sicily, promoted by ministerial decree in September 2005. The rules require 50 to 70 per cent Nero d'Avola and 30 to 50 per cent Frappato. The Nero d'Avola brings colour, body and tannin while the Frappato brings perfume and lightness, which is why the blend tastes quite different from either grape bottled on its own.
Yes, lightly. Around 13 to 15 degrees suits it, cooler than you would serve most Italian reds. The chill sharpens the red-fruit aromatics and keeps the wine refreshing, which is the whole point of the variety. Take it out of the fridge about twenty minutes before pouring, and do not decant it; the perfume is the best thing about it and decanting only disperses it.
It is grown almost nowhere outside south-eastern Sicily, so it has no widely planted relatives in the way Sangiovese or Nebbiolo do. Its closest working relationship is not genetic but practical: it is bottled alongside Nero d'Avola in Cerasuolo di Vittoria, where the two grapes cover each other's weaknesses. Around 752 hectares are planted nationally, nearly all in the province of Ragusa.
Sicilian street food is the natural home: arancini, sfincione and pasta alla Norma all suit its acidity and low tannin. Because it is so light it also handles dishes that usually defeat red wine, including grilled tuna, spiced lamb and moderately hot Asian food. The rule is to avoid anything heavily tannic on the plate, which would make the wine taste thin.
It is made to be drunk young, generally within two to five years of the vintage. The variety is prized for freshness and perfume rather than structure, and neither improves with long cellaring. The better Cerasuolo di Vittoria bottlings hold longer because the Nero d'Avola component gives them tannin, but a varietal Frappato is at its best while the red fruit is still bright.
Explore by style
Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
Keep exploring
545 wines
31 denominations
