Suber Nero d'Avola Blend

The 2020 was made without sulfur, so the nose is not unexpectedly funky: sweet caramel, a wet humus funkiness, the fruit showing a bit pruney. The electric acids are there on the palate, sending voltage through the funk to highlight a bit of the more pure berry fruit that was not accessible in the nose. But the funk is still prominent. It’s good, but the funk is strong right now, so I’ll reserve a numerical rating and see what aeration brings.

UPDATE: Night 2. The funk and burnt brown sugar are gone. It’s all prunes now. Not pleasant. An experiment gone awry.

Yowee this is a vigorous wine! Color is pretty saturated and youthful. Nose she’s intensely zingy dark berry (elderberry and black raspberry), animal notes and decomposing granite like a northern Rhone Syrah. Wild. in the mouth it’s joltingly electric with acidity, but that is balanced by concentrated ripe dark berry fruit. There’s also deep minerality and a note of new baseball glove leather. The tannins are present but we’ll managed. Finish is long and lip-smacking. Really good and really unique.

I probably drink too many Etna wines, so for a change here’s a Sicilian wine that is NOT from the volcano. It’s from the center of the island, near the city of Caltagirone, and it’s an unusual blend of two expected grapes (Nero d’Avola and Frappato) and one fairly unexpected one (Alicante Bouschet). Grown in dense vineyards planted with head-trained bush vines at about 1000 feet above sea level, this wine has a deep garnet color and a stony core surrounded by blackberry, licorice, and black cherry fruit. At once ripe and chiseled with acidity, this is a perfect expression of Sicily in many ways. It bears the i Vigneri stamp of consultant Salvo Foti, a good sign if there ever was one on Sicilian bottles.

I like this add of 30% Grenache to the Nero and frappatto. Med bodied and lots to say #sicily

2008. Nero biz.

Черноплодка, черешня, красная сливовая шкурка, кожа, табак, морёное дерево, лакрица, грифель, сухая земля. Мощно и собранно, с корректной кислотностью и заметными, чуть царапающимися в послевкусии танинами, подсушивающими спелую фруктовую сладость. Аккуратно и глубоко, в меру естественно, с неплохой структурой, чуть рустично и разбалансированно, но интересно.

#Cerasuolo blend with a nice dollop of Alicante Bouschet (aka Grenache) that adds what these wines are missing in terms of acidity, that i believe makes it a more refined, structured, and balanced wine with all of the same juicy dark red fruits and rustic feel of these wines - no surprises here since it’s part of the #salvofoti #ivigneri consortium. Worth a shot if you see it, especially with some age.

Find this rare bottle at this restaurant. Perfect Sicilian Nero d'Avola to start authentic Italian dinner.

Very good IGT Nero d'Avola, with aromas of fresh-naked blackberry pie, coffee, asphalt, and dust. Huge blue and black fruit flavors with mineral and red floral notes, excellent balance and length. Tannic, but soft and inviting in texture. Good value, too.

Crazy dry. Oaky. Not very sweet. Similar to a Nebbiolo. Full bodied.