Red wines from Sicilia

The appassimento method of making wine from grapes dried in the sun is a way of adding texture and raisiny intensity to the fresh fruit flavours of the juice.

The most famous wines made by this method are probably the Amarones and Valpolicella Ripassos of the Veneto region of northern Italy, but there is a similar tradition in Sicily, and this luscious red demonstrates that the island's indigenous Nero d'Avola is also an excellent candidate for the drying treatment.

Because the grapes for 'Siccari' (a dialect word for 'sun-dried') come from the relatively higher and cooler vineyards of Sicily's south-east, there's an invigorating freshness in the fruit that balances the enriching, concentrating influence of the appassimento.

The result is a voluptuous but not overpowering wine, silky-smooth and succulent, with plum and cherry character and just a hint of residual sugar. It's a perfect, full-flavoured partner for meat dishes, and its rich, very slightly off-dry finish and gentle tannins make it ideal with good cheese too.

DRINK OF THE WEEK ‘…smooth and round but not in any way jammy. Layered, intense, lovely’
Tom Doorley, Irish Mail on Sunday, May 2020

There is no mistaking the commitment of the Purato range—certified carbon neutral— to minimizing the environmental impact of its excellent everyday wines.

Not only are the wines themselves made from organically grown grapes, but the bottles, labels and cartons for the range are as far as possible made from recycled materials, with pure vegetable inks used in printing.

Nero d'Avola is indigenous to Sicily and an ideal choice for organic production because it is suited to the conditions of the island and has evolved to resist the particular challenges posed by the local climate and soils.

This is a medium-bodied dry red with soft tannins and attractive red fruit character. Its layers of flavour make it an excellent accompaniment to meat and tomato dishes—so it's perfect with lasagne, pizza and spaghetti bolognese as well as vegetarian meals. Of course, if you're trying your hand at some Sicilian specialities, so much the better.

‘…rich, supple, cherry-scented and fresh’
Tom Doorley, Irish Mail on Sunday, May 2020

From an estate where a profound respect for the environment is taken for granted comes one of the most impressive Nero d'Avola wines around.

This is a supple, subtle medium-bodied red that has immense charm and grace. It's a real treat, and winemaker Fabio Sireci's description of its understated character needs no further enhancement:

Ruby red in color. Its structure does not want to conquer with strength, but with elegance. A complex perfume with notes of fruit and spices, that are in harmony with one another. The boldest aroma is of cinnamon. Notes of menthol amplify the freshness of the taste. It is soft, velvety, sapid and is laced with the right amount of tannin on the palate.

The Nero d'Avola grape loves the heat, and gets plenty of it on its home soil of Sicily.

Nonetheless, this is an elegant and fruity wine, not too overwhelming at 13% alcohol and offering a great taste of Western Sicily that can accompany not only roast and grilled meats but also earthy vegetarian fare and even the rich spiciness of Oriental braised dishes with sweet-salt sauces.

This is a smooth and full-bodied red from the tip of the heel of Italy's boot.

It's made from hand-picked grapes selected from vines whose yields are restricted in order to concentrate the typically rich and dark fruit flavours of Primitivo. There's further concentration thanks to use of the appassimento method, in which grapes are partially dried, for a portion of the fruit.

Spicy, toasty characteristics are added by ageing about a quarter of the wine in French and American oak casks before the final blending, making this an ideal accompaniment for roast meat and mature cheeses. At the same time it's rounded and mellow enough to be enjoyed and savoured on its own.

Fine Italian tailoring. The cut! The finish! The style!

This superb Nero d'Avola is made from fruit grown in the Vrucara cru of Feudo Montoni, pre-phylloxera vines whose ancestors are mentioned in records from 1590.

Intense, persistent aromas of earth, plums and dark berries mingle with notes of roses, vanilla and hints of eucalyptus and licorice suggestive of the vruca, a vineyard weed of the tamarisk family, which gives the area and the wine its name.

Long ageing lends subtlety and finesse to this soft, velvety wine, sustained by delicate acidity and gentle supporting tannins.

Give this very special wine an hour, preferably two, in a decanter before serving.

Read more about the estate and its people in this article by Gurvinder Bhatia from Quench

Perricone is the principal grape in the ruby style of Marsala, where its typical body, colour and alcohol are all welcome.

It's a late-ripening variety that was severely affected by phylloxera at the end of the nineteenth century, and in many vineyards was subsequently replaced by the more highly valued Nero d'Avola.

In practice, the two varieties are often reunited in blended wines, where the generosity of the Nero d'Avola fruit mellows the bold tannins of the Perricone—but in the right hands, and with care and skill, Perricone makes an interesting, aromatic and robust red.

Dark and dried fruit aromas, with hints of spice and cocoa, introduce a soft, rounded red with good, food-friendly acidity and assertive tannins that give a stylish polish to a modern expression of a traditional, and now relatively uncommon, grape.

This is a wine to decant, if possible an hour before serving.