A Taste of Sicily (1).

Nero D'Avola Ripe Grape Bunch.

Sicily is the land where the Medeterranean Triumvirate of Wine, Olive Oil and Bread, is the most apparent. The island's hilly terrain, poor soil and persistent sunlight are tailor made for the production of all three Italian necessities.
For many years, Sicily like many other regions in the south of Italy, suffered from the same mentality that quantity mattered more than quality. Consequently in much of the twentieth century, yields in Sicilian vineyards were pushed to the limit and wine making was haphazard. Thus Sicily and several Southern Italian regions on the mainland, became infamous for the production of extremely cheap vino di tavola, (table wine) of abysmally low quality.

This massive decline in the reputation of Sicilian wines caused several serious producers to launch a mini-revolution to change the status quo in the 1970's and 80's towards the production of better quality wines.

Today, some fascinating wines are coming out of Sicily than was the case even some ten years ago, and although some of these wines are still not yet widely known, some of them rank with the best wines produced in the whole of Italy.

The quality revolution targeted among other grape varietals, the Nero D'Avola  (Calabrese') grape variety, which is an indegenious grape of Sicily. This grape was and still is the most widely planted varietal all over Sicily and consequently was prostituted and abused all over the island in the production of cheap wines by anyone who could make wine, being farmers, vineyard owners and even some commercial winemakers.

In its present cultivation, Nero D'Avola can produce some excellent wine of the highest quality having an intensive black colour, with real depth, fruitiness and appeal. This only came about by the fact that Sicilian winemakers of note, have in their employ the very best wine consultants, agronomists, viniculturists and oneologists. Success does not come easy especially in such a competitive market, and the reconstitution of shattered reputations take a long time and effort to be rebuilt.

A winemaker who has come a long way to produce and bring to the market some of the very best Sicilian wines is FEUDO MONTONI di Fabio Sireci. This winery extends over 73 hectares of prime land in the region of Montoni Vecchi in the province of Cammarata. Wine is derived from an age-old and unadulterated clone of the Nero D'Avola grape variety which has been grown for many years in the Feudo Montoni vineyards.

A premium wine of note from this winemaker which we have been following for some vintages and years is the: FEUDO MONTONI -del Principato di Villanova - NERO D'AVOLA VRUCARA IGT.
Although classified as an IGT wine, this wine ranks well above than some of the best DOCG wines of other varietals. I have taste-tested and reviewed vintages of this wine since the 2005 vintage was introduced to me, with the latest vintage recieved being the 2007 vintage.These wines can be drunk now, but although excellent in their present form, in my opinion these vintages are still very young and require more bottle aging in good cellars to bring out the full structure and complexity of such a full-bodied red wine.

Vrucara 2005 & 2007 Vintages.

The VRUCARA is produced from 100% Nero D'Avola grapes, culled from the very best vineyards of Feudo Montoni, and are handpicked primarily from old vines averaging 40 years.

Vinification: The grapes are destemmed and crushed through soft membrane. The must is then pressed and fermented with natural yeasts and left for a long maceration process on the skins lasting for 25 days under temperature controlled conditions. Malolactic fermentation is then carried out in wooden barrels to soften the acidity.

Oak Aging- is carried out for 8 months in barriques after which, the wine is transferred into larger wooden barrels for another 4 months (tonneaux).

Bottle Aging: The wine is then bottled without any fining or filtering and left to age in the bottle in the winemakers cellars for another 6 months prior to release.

This wine has a dark red, nearly inky black colour, with floral aromas and a bouquet of cherries, vanilla, and berries. On the palate the Vrucara is full-bodied, strong and elegant at the same time, with flavours of red berries, vanilla, ripe plums and chocolate. It has a high level of tannins and decent and good acidity. 

This particular Nero D'Avola wine is rich, complex and well structured, spicey and very well balanced. It has a long, unique and mellow finish which does not leave an aftertatse that would interfere with a sweet dessert after dinner. My recommendation, as with most full-bodied, premium red wines, is to open the bottle about two hours prior to serving and/or to decant it for better complexity and refinement.

Overall, the FEUDO MONTONI NERO D'AVOLA VRUCARA in any of its recent vintages resulted in an excellent premium wine for this grape varietal.

FOOD PAIRING: This wine pairs well with roast shank of lamb; roast red meats; grilled prime steaks; game and mature cheeses.
Alcoholic content by volume is: 13.5%
Price range : Eur30.

RATING: RS92 Points.

Aging potential: 10 to 15 years.