Feudo Montoni
Vrucara Sicilia Nero d'Avola
Sicily, Italy
Made with bush-trained pre-phylloxera vines, high elevation with small yields. Ruby with aromas of red fruits, sweet spice and cedar notes. On the palate flavors of cherry, plum and blackberry with licorice, vanilla and slightly toasted cedar. Soft fine tannins, well balanced with acidity, long finish ending with fruit and mineral character. Nice! Tasting Sample.
Made with bush-trained pre-phylloxera vines, high elevation with small yields. Ruby with aromas of red fruits, sweet spice and cedar notes. On the palate flavors of cherry, plum and blackberry with licorice, vanilla and slightly toasted cedar. Soft fine tannins, well balanced with acidity, long finish ending with fruit and mineral character. Nice! Tasting Sample.
Oct 21st, 2021
Highly aromatic and herbal, spicy, brambly black and red fruits and baked earth, quintessential Mediterranean wine from a top Sicilian producer (and found on the clearance rack!)
Highly aromatic and herbal, spicy, brambly black and red fruits and baked earth, quintessential Mediterranean wine from a top Sicilian producer (and found on the clearance rack!)
Apr 21st, 2019
Raspberries on the nose. Good depth on the palate, with a nice roundness. 100 yr old vines shine through.
Raspberries on the nose. Good depth on the palate, with a nice roundness. 100 yr old vines shine through.
Dec 8th, 2018
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.
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.
Smoke and cassis. Floral perfume. Beautiful.
Smoke and cassis. Floral perfume. Beautiful.
May 13th, 2018
Robust, dark, tannic and closed at first. Opens up after 2-3 hours airing into a sweeter lightly perfumed and spicy syrah-like wine. Needs food.
Robust, dark, tannic and closed at first. Opens up after 2-3 hours airing into a sweeter lightly perfumed and spicy syrah-like wine. Needs food.
Mar 23rd, 2018
John had this 4 years ago
John had this 4 years ago
1 person found it helpfulOct 14th, 2020
Eucalyptus, eucalyptus, eucalyptus, thyme, and a touch of rosemary on the nose. Fresh blueberry and blackberry sprinkled with black olives, and clean minerality on the palate with a touch of spices. Great structure. Old vine, pre phylloxera, bush trained.
Eucalyptus, eucalyptus, eucalyptus, thyme, and a touch of rosemary on the nose. Fresh blueberry and blackberry sprinkled with black olives, and clean minerality on the palate with a touch of spices. Great structure. Old vine, pre phylloxera, bush trained.
1 person found it helpfulNov 15th, 2018
Isabella had this 10 years ago
Isabella had this 10 years ago
1 person found it helpfulApr 5th, 2014