Tasting notes:
Da Vero Biologico Nero d’Avola. Aromas of ripe black fruit with a hint of spice. Rustic and savoury on the palate with rich plum and bramble fruit alongside herbal notes. The soft tannins are balanced by fresh acidity.
Food Match:
Rich pasta dishes, casseroles and grilled meats.
Producer/Region: Da Vero Biologico Nero d’Avola
Sicily’s warm, dry climate is ideal for organic cultivation and most vineyards already use very little spraying against diseases and pests. This makes the island is a great source of good, affordable organic wines.
The Da Vero wines (‘davvero’ means ‘really’ or ‘naturally’ in Italian) are the result of a long relationship with a cooperative in Sicily. They also happen to have the island’s largest plantings of organic vines.
The Nero d’Avola grapes are sourced from the area around Salemi (Province of Trapani) in the northwest tip of Sicily. The vines are Guyot-trained and grown at around 250m altitude on a combination of soil types.
The vineyards were converted to organic viticulture in 2007. The grapes are macerated on the skins for 8-12 days, then racked and allowed to complete malolactic fermentation.
Established in 2003, Adria Vini is a winemaking venture. Jointly owned by Boutinot and Araldica Castelvero the leading co-operative in the Monferrato hills of Piemonte. Their aim is to produce authentic, well-priced still and sparkling wines from local grape varieties.
All aspects of the production from grape selection through to vinification, maturation, blending and bottling are meticulously overseen by Araldica’s winemaking team of Claudio Manera and Lella Burdese assisted by Boutinot’s Tony Brown MW. They source from a range of private growers and cooperatives, with whom we have long term relationships, principally in Veneto, Friuli, Lombardy, Sicily, Puglia, Abruzzo and Sardinia.
Nero d’Avola is “the most important red wine grape in Sicily” and is one of Italy’s most important indigenous varieties. It is named after Avola in the far south of Sicily, and its wines are compared to New World Shiraz’s, with sweet tannins and plum or peppery flavours. It also contributes to Marsala Rubino blends.
