Isaac Pirolo

9.3

Apparently Tasting Note Tuesday
is now a thing (thanks for the heads up @Greg Ballington). That said, I’m still an advocate of everyday of the week, but I’ll participate nonetheless.

A wine such as this requires serious research. Fortunately Ian D’Agata’s notes in Vinous are indispensable: “Feudo Montoni’s greatest wine is the Nero d’Avola Vrucara, a single vineyard wine made from roughly 80-100 year-old vines that grow at 500 meters above sea level. Most of the vines are of pre-phylloxera origin, and are therefore ungrafted. The vineyard’s name derives from the Sicilian word vruca, a local herb that grows in the vineyards and exudes aromas of menthol and incense. The Vrucara vineyard is especially beautiful, a field of gnarly, very thick trunked and low-lying bush vines hugging the dark mainly clay soils (with a little loam and sand). Vinification is... very traditional... At its best, Vrucara is a benchmark Nero d’Avola, eschewing the vanilla notes of more modern interpretations of Nero d’Avolas, while offering multilayered violet, blueberry, macerated red cherries in alcohol, tar and spicy aromas and flavors, with a characteristic hint of eucalyptus and incense.”

The 2012 doesn’t veer off course. Benefits from an hour open, but a few would be ideal. A mashup of spiced cherry and blackberry is hard to miss, but the floral, earthen, and leather entanglement is the attraction here and clearly terroir driven. There’s a noticeable clay pot and smoked meat component which beautifully emphasizes how old world this wine really is. The oak treatment is evident, but the wine is also able to withstand a fair amount and still proudly carry its old world card. — 5 days ago

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

9.3

Gravitas is not a word I associate with Nero d'Avola. Usually I think ripe, fun, juicy, soft. Not here. Full of earth and meat and funk and slightly underripe dark fruit, carried by surprising acidity and enough tannin to give the whole package something to cling to in yours mouth. Moves the bar. — 25 days ago

Grace Brumley

9.8

This shit is delicious. Érica is getting drunk and she doesn’t even digest alcohol like normal people. Usually gives her explosive diarrhea but today she’s like a hot air balloon on that day when all the hot air balloons go in the sky - just one of the guys! She’s downloading the app now even though she doesn’t even really drink. Thank u Occhipinti. — 6 days ago

James Forsyth

9.0

A groovy wine. Get a cherry coke and then remove any sweetness and that's pretty much what we have here. Unlike a coke, it's painstakingly natural in process. — 19 days ago

Bassel Sommelier

9.1

This is excellent Nero D’Avola, fresh, sweet prune and dried apricots, the tannins are so subtle — 6 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

From the recently revived viticultural area of Faro in the north eastern tip of Sicily near Messina and not far from Mt Etna. Light to mid crimson in colour. Earthy savoury mineral notes with smoky red cherry. Light to medium bodied palate with a skinnsy note. A blend of the 2 Nerellos of Etna fame plus Nocera and Nero d’Avola - Sicily in a bottle! Not as wow as when I had it in Sicily but still impressive. — 16 days ago

Arden Barnett

9.1

Love any of the COS wines, especially with Italian food. Bright tart cherries, orange zest, licorice and dried prunes. Nice spritz to the finish. No exposure to oak just concrete tanks. — 2 days ago

J. Kim

9.0

A real wine with real aromas, acidities, tannins, minerality and rich fruit. Not a natural wine but has a transparency and purity without the funkiness. Super clean and no hint of wood. Has both the presence and the substance. Excellent. — 7 days ago

Lisa Bailey

9.0

Earthy, musty. Full bodied white wine, higher etoh but without the burn. Unusual and lovely — a day ago

Anne Carman

9.0

Slice prominent - pepper, anise, sage. Dark plum, tea. Warm blackberry. Much softer finish than expected. — 11 days ago