and pleasantly tactile. From Peynaud's perspective, vegetal smells, excessive sourness (high acidity), bitterness, thinness (low alcohol), and coarse-textured astringency were to be avoided in red wines. Tachis translated the Peynaud model into the enological context of Italy.
Tachis saw his job consulting for the IRVV as an exciting challenge. Both he and Planeta felt that for Sicily to be taken seriously as a quality producer on the world stage, great red wines with a distinctly Sicilian taste would have to be developed. During the early 1990s, about 80 percent of the vineyards in Sicily were planted with white grapes. Given Sicily's history of bulk wine and little else, Tachis had a relatively blank slate to work with.
Tachis was familiar with the climatic parameters of Sicily. Its ample sunlight and heat and lack of summer and harvest rain were similar to the climate of the Tuscan coast, where he had done much of his pioneering work on the Super Tuscan wine Sassicaia. In Sicily, grape skins and seeds become so physiologically mature that anthocyanins, the dominant pigment compounds in most grape skins, are easily extractable. Traditionally, Sicilian red wine maceration periods were brief, usually one to three days. A lack of temperature control and hygiene had made long macerations unsafe. Tachis preferred higher than normal pHs in red wines so that the expression of sourness did not cover or confuse that of astringency. He knew that the developed tannins of Sicilian red wines would need less maturation time in new barrel and less aging in bottle. With the wine having less contact with new oak, oak smells would mask fruit smells less. Wines could be released earlier than would be the case in northern Italy.
When considering Tachis, we have to remember that his inspiration was the red wine of Bordeaux. He was, comparatively speaking, less familiar with Burgundy varieties and Burgundian wine technology. In Tuscany he had often recommended that Sangiovese wines include some Bordeaux varieties, particularly Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, to add color and texture. Similarly, because of his great familiarity with Bordeaux wine technology, he also prescribed Bordeaux techniques when making Sangiovese wine. For example, he generally advocated pump-over and closed fermentation vats, typical to Bordeaux, over punch-down and open fermentation vats, typical to Burgundy. Tachis was an important influence who pushed traditional Tuscan wine flavor in a Bordelais direction, which was more likely to be appreciated by international wine critics and non-Italian consumers.
Like his master Peynaud, Tachis had more expertise in dry red than dry white wine production. Bordeaux wine producers had not put great effort into producing top-quality dry white wines until the mid-1980s, when they adopted Burgundian barrel fermentation techniques, particularly in the Pessac-Léognan appellation. While the world model for top-quality red wine has been Bordeaux, the world model for top-quality dry white wine has been Burgundian barrel-fermented Chardonnay. Though Tachis consulted for estates, such as Querciabella in Tuscany, that made excellent barrel-fermented Chardonnays, he was not recognized as a white wine specialist. Nor was he known for his expertise in rose, sparkling, or fortified wine production.
However, he took a special interest in and had great appreciation for what are commonly called dessert wines. In this case, dessert wines refers to a category that contains dry as well as sweet wines and those that are often consumed by themselves or as an aperitif with a small plate of cheese, fruit, and nuts. These wine types had a long history of production in the Mediterranean area. Tachis studied these wine types from historical and cultural perspectives. He wrote a book about Vin Santo, a traditional wine typical to Italy, particularly Tuscany. Vin Santo wines can range from dry to sweet. Like many Mediterranean dessert wines, they are made by fermenting dried or semidried grapes. Though Tachis has a profound understanding of and appreciation for historic techniques and styles of dessert wines, when consulting for clients he would recommend moving their wines toward a profile that he thought modern markets would better appreciate. This profile emphasized golden-yellow over amber coloration, fresh fruit over nutty aromas and the piercing pungency of volatile acidity, and levels of acidity that supported sweetness and gave length to the finish. He favored carefully monitoring and controlling the desiccation of grapes. He advised producers to avoid conditions in which the coincidence of direct sunlight and intense heat limits enzymatic activity in the grape skins and increases oxidation. Such enzymatic activity releases exotic flavors from the skins. He also recommended fermentation and maturation practices that reduced oxidation and the loss of fruit. He encouraged producers to have an open mind regarding the use of selected yeasts. He advised low-temperature fermentation and maturation in cool environments where oxygen contact was controlled.
It was with these predilections that Tachis assessed the microvinifications at Virzi in 1992 and subsequent years. He identified Nero d'Avola as the variety that expressed Sicilianness for red wines. The focus of its use was in southeast Sicily. As he had in Tuscany, Tachis prescribed additions of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah to supply more depth of color and more structure, principally astringency. He believed that Nero d'Avola would be less successful in the market as a monovarietal wine. Tachis did not see much potential for Nerello Mascalese, the principal variety in the Etna area. For him, its color was too pale, its palate too sour, and its texture too harshly astringent. On the other hand, he was fond of Frappato, a variety historic to the Vittoria area. He liked its fresh fruitiness and acidity. Tachis gave rave reviews to several samples of Pinot Noir grown at Castiglione di Sicilia in the Etna area. He put forward the possibility that Etna Pinot Noir could one day rival red Burgundy.
Though Duca di Salaparuta's Duca Enricos of the late 1980s and early 1990s had quietly demonstrated that Nero d'Avola could be successful as a principal variety and even as a monovarietal wine, Tachis's advocacy convinced Sicilian winemakers that Nero d'Avola was the Sicilian quality red grape. Inspired by his advice, farmers and wine producers planted it nearly everywhere. They planted it in locations both good for the variety and bad. Because journalists were awarding high marks to dark, thick, ripe, and alcoholic wines, producers across Sicily making Nero d'Avola wine did what they could to sculpt their wines accordingly. The preferences of journalists reinforced, if not exaggerated, Tachis's prescriptions. In many cases, the additions of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and other varieties covered the character of Nero d'Avola to the extent that it was lost.
With respect to white wines, Tachis thought well of a blend of Inzolia and Catarratto. Inzolia gave some spice in the nose and had some fatness in the mouth. Catarratto had little to add in the nose and was thin in the mouth but supplied acidity. Tachis believed Grillo had enough body to stand on its own as a monovarietal wine. It could support some barrel maturation and/or aging. He worked with the Piedmontese enologist Carlo Casavecchia at Duca di Salaparuta in the late 1990s and early 2000s on a barrel-fermented Grillo called Kados. For Tachis, 100 percent Carricante from Etna did not have enough aroma. He recommended adding 10 to 15 percent of Traminer or another aromatic variety. He showed an interest in Moscato, in particular Moscato Bianco in southeast Sicily and Zibibbo (Muscat Alexandria) on Pantelleria. As he had done elsewhere in Italy regarding dessert wines, he suggested techniques that would result in cleaner and fresher styles without moving the tastes too far from tradition. He noted that Chardonnay performed well in many locales in Sicily and gave Sicilian winemakers directions on how to barrel-ferment and mature it. In 1993 he entered a Sicilian Chardonnay produced at Virzi in an international competition in Burgundy. It won third prize.
Tachis earned the respect of most Sicilians not only because he was a star enologist but because he showed great respect for Sicily’s history and culture. When the young Sicilian enologist Vincenzo Bambina at Donnafugata asked for his advice, Tachis replied, “To really understand wine, you must be culturally mature.” Tachis believed that the wines of the Mediterranean islands made up a special class that had to be understood on their own terms. He was also an effective communicator. At many conferences he led tutored tastings of Sicilian wines to show their uniqueness to the wine world. His message was that the great natural resource Sicily had was the sun. The sunlight was in the flavor of the wines. He has always been a humble man who never sought credit for what he achieved and always generously bestowed credit on those who worked with enthusiasm, spirit, and professionalism.
