This a dark and broody Nero DAvola with lifted aromatics and plush fruit flavours. Plum, blackberry and black cherry richness with supporting milk chocolate, brown spices and garden herb complexity. The wine has a plushness of berries but finishes long and dry with savoury notes and freshness of acidity. The tannins are soft yet apparent and certainly in support to deliver both very food friendly wine and an easy one to like on its own.

Bright red fruits with flavours of red licorice and fennel. Powerful aromatics give this wine a really unique drinking experience.

Back in 2017 I was intrigued to see if my theory about certain varieties from warm-climate dry-grown vineyards are ideal for light-bodied red wines, even to be enjoyed with a bit of a chill on it! That ended up being one of my most successful wines, so in 2022 I made my fourth wine from Nero d’Avola grown by the Chalmers family at their Merbein vineyard. Fruit was hand-picked then transported in a refrigerated truck and delivered to the winery the next day. It was de-stemmed and sat on skins for only five days which accounted for the majority of fermentation. Once pressed it completed its fermentation in a stainless-steel tank, then was transferred to mature French oak puncheons (500L). After spending six months in barrel the wine was racked and blended, then bottled in November 2022.

Fabrizio Vella is a passionate winemaker living and working in Sicily. Proud of the island that he calls home he wanted to create a wine range that was personal to him, that reflected where he was from. Working with indigenous varieties of Cattaratto and Nero d’Avola he conjured four wines using an organic approach and careful winemaking to create wines that are fresh, exciting, moreish and true to their origin. A Sicilian wine through and through. Harvested by hand. Yields are naturally limited by the winds and climatic conditions on the island and average around 80 quintal per hectare. Vineyard sites are situated at an altitude of 350-450m, ensuring cooler night time temperatures which preserve crucial acidity in the grapes. The average age of the vineyards are 7 years old. wines tend to be harvested earlier than many of their neighbours and consequently they are bright and fresh with no jammy, baked flavours. Fermented in wooden barrels, 70% crushed and 30% the whole bunches. A temperature controlled fermentation to reach 28°C. A natural fermentation without the addition of yeast, which takes around 10 days, then the malolactic ferment starts with skin contact for 1 month. Aged in neutral oak for 8 months. A natural wine with a complex nose, which is spicy and packed full of punchy liqouirice, chocolate, and dark fruits. Crisp, pleasant and persistent in the mouth.