From: Sicily, Italy
Varietal: Nero d'Avola
Tasting Notes: Dark garnet. Notes of ripe plums, leather, garrigue and pepper on the nose, with ripe black cherry and a touch of candied berry on the palate. Finishes with fruit sweetness and a licorice note with soft gripping tannins to hold it all together.
Pairing: Nero d'Avola is a full-bodied, dry red wine from Sicily that pairs best with lasagna, meatballs, pizza, red meat and lamb tagine (see recipe below). Other options include chicken salad with pomegranate, pine nuts and raisins; caramelized barbecued pork patties; charcoal-grilled rump steak, sweet n sour eggplant stir-fry, saag paneer, or even vegetable korma.
Lamb Tagine
By Melissa Clark
About. Poggio Anima is a joint venture between one of Tuscany's rising stars, Riccardo Campinoti of Le Ragnaie in Montalcino and his U.S.A. importer Ronnie Sanders of Vine Street Imports. The idea is straightforward: to source great vineyards from existing relationships and produce a real wine that conveys a place and a grape. These wines are not bulk wines or leftover juice from a winery; instead, they are the result of long-standing relationships with reputable and respected growers throughout Italy.
2019 marks the seventh vintage from this vineyard. The vineyard is located in central Sicily, in the province of Caltanissetta, at about 1,600 feet above sea level. The altitude and the distance from the sea ensure great condition for ripening the Nero d'Avola. The vines are planted south facing following the vertical trellis system on sandy and clay-rich soil using guyot pruning. Cool winters and a dry spring led to a desert-like summer.
After a much-needed few hours in a refrigerated space, the grapes are destemmed and cold soaked on the skins for 12-13 days. A gentle pressing to stainless steel tanks where they were vinified. The wine then spends 3 months in used French and American oak barrels, which gives a little more structure. It finishes back in-tank to integrate. Of all of the varietals of Italy, Nero d’Avola is as lustful and pleasurable as it gets. Rich, peppery and opulent, it has many of the same characteristics as Syrah.
Nero d'Avola (also known as Calabrese) is Sicily's most important and widely planted red wine grape. Vast volumes of Nero d'Avola are produced on the island yearly, and have been for centuries. The dark-skinned grape is of great historical importance to Sicily and takes its present-day name from the town of Avola on the island's southeast coast. The area was a hotbed of trade and population movement during the Middle Ages, and Nero d'Avola was frequently used to add color and body to lesser wines in mainland Italy.
Translated, Nero d'Avola means "Black of Avola", a reference to the grape's distinctive dark colouring, but its exact origins are the subject of debate. The region of Calabria can lay claim to the variety via its synonym Calabrese (meaning "of Calabria"), though this term may be a derivation of Calaurisi, an ancient name for someone from Avola.
For most of the 20th Century, Nero d'Avola was used as a blending grape, and the name very rarely appeared on wine labels. By the turn of the 21st Century, however, the grape's fortunes had changed considerably, and it is common to find Nero d'Avola produced as a varietal wine. It is often compared to Syrah because it likes similar growing conditions (Sicily has a hot Mediterranean climate) and exhibits many similar characteristics.
Depending on production methods, Nero d'Avola can be made into dense and dark wine stored in oak barrels and suitable for aging or young and fresh wines. Younger wines show plum and juicy, red-fruit flavors, while more complex examples offer chocolate and dark raspberry flavors. Nero d'Avola typically has high tannins, medium acid, and a strong body. However, it can be very smooth if grown at higher elevations where cooler temperatures restrict alcohol levels. It thrives on the eastern part of Sicily and is being trialed in Australia and California. Because of its generous color, Nero d'Avola is sometimes produced as rosé wine.
