As seen in The Independent – organic wine with concentrated flavour of dried fruits, leather and black pepper.

“Concentrated but lush and silky black-fruit flavours and real poise and elegance on the palate. Probably best drunk cool, rather than chilled and brilliant with lighter white meats or pasta.” – The Independent (12 August 2020)

This wine is a masterpiece, produced by Salvatore Tamburello’s organic micro-winery in Sicily. Salvatore is really passionate about quality, and cultivates the vineyard personally with his wife and three daughters. It’s quite hard to achieve Decanter Silver, and only a few wineries manage it. Salvatore told us his secret: Nero d’Avola is grown across Sicily, and can produce as much as 13,000 kg of grapes per hectare. Salvatore removes half of the bunches from his vines, which means the remaining grapes receive all the nutrients and in the end have a much more concentrated flavour.

His vineyard is in the western part of Sicily, in Poggioreale (the province of Trapani). The Nero d’Avola grapes are planted at 200 metres above sea level, and the soil is composed of limestone and clay – this type of soil is known to produce excellent wines. Salvatore says that they work really hard to produce high-quality grapes in the vineyard, and he keeps intervention in the cellar to a minimum. To preserve the aroma of red fruits, he does cold maceration for 20 days at just 18 °C. It is a very low temperature, as red wines typically ferment at 22-30 °C. To age and develop, the wine then spends 20 months in stainless steel tanks, while a small percentage – not more than 10% – is aged in oak barriques, to add a delicate touch of oak.

The wine is beautiful. When we took our first sip, we knew that this was the premium-quality Nero d’Avola wine we had been looking for. In our shop, it proudly sits between Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino.

Tasting notes

Deep ruby colour. Deep flavour of dark cherries, with a bursting freshness of cranberry, underpinned by scents of black pepper, cedar wood, old leather and Cuban cigar. On the palate, it’s dry and full-bodied, with smooth but powerful tannins.

Ageing potential

10 years

Awards

Decanter World Wine Awards – Silver Medal (2016 vintage) | Gambero Rosso – One glass (2017 vintage), Two Glasses (2015 vintage)

“Floral and perfumed with crunchy cranberry, redcurrant jelly and white pepper; grippy on the palate with a spicy oak finish.” – Decanter World Wine Awards