La Mura Nero d'Avola 2020

The grape is Nero d’Avola. The region is Sicily, bathed in the Mediterranean sun. Together, under the organic loving care of the Lamura team, they create an explosive southern Italian red that simply demands a place in your wine-drinking repertoire:

The nose opens with dark black fruits of fig, ripe blue fruits, blackberry preserves and chocolate.  But it doesn’t lose its Italian-ness – notes of leather, grilled lamb chops, dark cherry tobacco and black truffles all come to the fore on the palate. 

While most Nero d’Avolas are rustic and hard with tannins, this one has a velvety, rich and supple palate, long on fruit flavors, finishing with a soft and delicious minerality.  Place this wine in a flight of top-shelf Napa Cabernets and I guarantee it won’t come out the loser – while it may not triumph, it will certainly be the first glass finished. 

Sicily is not known for making wine like this – in this vast area the locals say the wines “are greedy for the sun.”  The regional wines – while being made for millenia – are rough and ready, tannic and rustic, almost like they were still expected to endure a sea journey by Greek merchant ship to reach their clientele.  Most are still made by cooperatives, for local consumption (and lots of it). 

Here, though, the Lamura team wanted to do something very different. Although they have been in business since 1899, they wanted to use this land of sunshine and its rich volcanic soils to produce a beautifully fresh red wine, but also one that is completely organic from cultivation, to fermentation, to final bottling, and certified as such. For them, this bottle captures the essence of Sicily, created only by Nature, and nothing else. As they note on their website— “Breathe Deep, this is the Scent of Life.” Indeed!