If you enjoy full bodied red wines like Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon the next wine you might wish to try is Nero d'Avola.
Nero d'Avola is the most important and widely planted red wine grape variety in Sicily. The dark skinned grape is of great historical importance to Sicily. It takes it’s name from the town of Avola on the islands southeast coast. The area was well known in trading during the Middle Ages so much of the wine was sent to mainland Italy to add color and body to lesser wines.
This practice continued through the 20th century. In the 60’s and 70’s Sicilian wine faced a crisis of quality. As wine was becoming an International business, Sicily’s reputation of quantity over quality affected their standing in the global marketplace. In the 1980’s a new generation of winemakers with modern techniques began to bring about a change.
Today many wineries produce single varietal Nero d’Avola. It is often compared to Syrah because it likes similar growing conditions and exhibits many similar characteristics.
Nero d’Avola means “Black of Avola” a reference to the distinctive dark coloring of the grapes. The wine has moderately high acidity and ABV between 13.5%-14%. Nero d’Avola is known for it's bold, fruit driven flavors that typically showcase black cherry, dark raspberry, plums, prunes chocolate and spice. Depending on production methods Nero d’Avola can be made into a dense and dark wine that is stored in oak barrels and suitable for aging. During this process the wines pick up a much stronger depth of flavor. Younger Nero d”Avolas typically have a juicy plum taste and exude a herbal and cherry aroma that matches it’s fruity nature.
Nero d’Avola is a great food wine especially with rich meats including steaks, burgers, pork chops, veal, meatloaf and beef stew. It also goes well with cheeses such as Fontina, Gruyere, Cheddar and Sheeps milk cheeses.
Why not try a few and let us know your thoughts.
Donnafugata Nero d’Avola
Morgante Don Antonio Nero d’Avola
Federico Curtaz “Ananke” Nero d’Avola
Feudo Maccari Ner d’Avola
Planeta Nero d’Avola La Segreta
Salute
Comments