NERO D'AVOLA LAMORESCA

100% Nero d’Avola

"It’s Nero, but maybe not as you know it. Spicy, almost mustard green or watercress, but also liquorice/aniseed, violets, earth, cherry and amaro. It’s fresh, sappy, an earthy grip to tannin, orange peel and spiced strawberry, so much zest and tang, but has the bass to go with it, and almonds. Fresh raspberry, dry and silty finish. Quite a wine. Classic Lamoresca feel, but different too. It’s a terrific wine. Fans of this producer should probably form an orderly queue". (Gary Walsh)

San Michele in Ganzaria, in the heart of Sicily. Altitude of 430 meters above sea level. Clay and sand soil. Typical Mediterranean climate: very warm and dry in the summer, very little rain.

Fermentation with indigenous yeasts. 2 months of maceration on the skin in vertical “tini”, the skin gets manually pressed down twice a day until the strong fermentation stops. Then the “tino” gets closed and aired out once every week, without temperature control or added yeasts. Then the wine rests for an additional year in concrete tanks, followed by two years in the bottle in our cellar.

Lamoresca is a small producer in the southern province of Catania, where the hot Mediterranean climate is tempered by 450 meters altitude. Here, Fillipo Rizzo works with indigenous varieties, adhering to minimal-intervention practises in both vineyard and cellar.

Fillipo's take on Nero d'Avola is quite different from the mainstream interpretation of this grape. Nero d'Avola is often made as a black-fruited, rich and often overtly ripe wine. This is very different indeed, showcasing a fresher, sappy and more herbal-inflected side of the variety. From a 20 year old vineyard, 550 m above sea level, sandy soil. 2 months of maceration on the skins, aged in concrete tanks for 1 year, then 2 years in the bottle before release.

94 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front