Sicily Wine

WInemaker Description

Nero d’Avola gives this wine a red passion color, hints of ripe fruit and an intense and harmonious taste. Immediate and direct but not trivial, it differs in the altitude at which its grapes are grown, which allows for a fresher wine, with delicate tannins and easy to drink style.

Expert Rating (2021 Vintage)

James Suckling writes:  Attractive nose of raspberries, strawberries, cherries and peppercorns. It’s medium-bodied, with bright acidity, medium-firm tannins and a delicious finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink now or hold.  - James Suckling 91

Debra of 67Wine.com | Cantine Colosi's Grillo is certified vegan and shows fresh floral aromas , stone fruits and  herbs.  This Southern Italian white is bright, with lively acidity, orange zest, grapefruit, white peaches and savoriness on the palate.  Wonderfully balanced offering a generous crisp, refreshing finish. Pair with lemon pasta and cream sauce,  chicken,  seafood and goat cheese.  Debra, Italy White Wine Buyer

Winemaker Description

From the Regaleali Estate, the Tasca winery, focusing on Nero d'Avola grapes (black grape variety also called 'Calabrese' not because it comes from Calabria, but as it derives from the ancient Calabrese family originating in the area of ​​Modica - Avola), produces this Ruby red wine, which has an exceptional aroma that brings to mind harmonious fruity notes well blended with typical Mediterranean spices. On the palate, an intense flavor of ripe fruit comes along with a pleasantly tannic background.

Winemaker Description

On the nose, aromatic scents of raspberries, blackberries and wild flowers intertwine with mineral shades. The palate is fresh and aromatic, balanced by good tannins.

Debra of 67Wine.com | This Sicilian white is light, clean , and offers stone fruit flavors of peach,  citrus and a subtle tropical fruit note.  This wine is made with organic grapes and it is also vegan. Purely enjoyable, harmonious, light bodied with freshness making it a perfect wine for every day drinking.

Enjoy with cheese from 67Gourmet, light seafood dishes, salads or as an aperitif.

Straw yellow color Bouquet: The bouquet on the nose shows aromas of citrus, tropical fruits and floral notes. Flavor: On the palate it is fresh and enjoyable; balanced for everyday drinking. Winemaker Description. 

Winemaker Description

Cusumano Nero d'Avola is a deep ruby red, with violet reflections. Fresh aromas of red and black berries. Fruit-forward with firm tannins and plummy spice flavors on the palate. Winemaker Description. 

Intense, dark ruby red. On the nose, notes of black fruit, strawberries, flowers and herbs. Dry and full-bodied on the palate.

"One of my favorite great value reds! Velvety textured with delicious flavors of blackberry, plum and strawberry with savory spice and aromatic herbs. Medium to full bodied with supple tannins that provide lift and structure.  Great for pizza, pasta and any midweek excursion."
Bart Hopkins

Winemaker Description

Rina Russa genuinely has its own unique style, as the Frappato grapes come from ancient clones developed on our own estate. It has a very beautiful light cherry colour, with a fresh and vibrant bouquet, reminiscent of wild strawberries and a beautifully balanced palate, with silky smooth fruit, a real freshness running through it and a surprisingly long finish. 

Experts Reviews

Tamlyn Currin writes:  Pale red. Tastes like a glass of summer – fresh strawberries and raspberries, ripe and sweet despite the racy acidity and gentle borage leafiness. The transparent tannins taste of cinnamon. The perfect red wine for tuna Niçoise or fish with caponata (or, quite frankly, quayside fish and chips laced with (good) tomato ketchup and chip-shop vinegar!). I love this little red wine which always reminds me of an under-tens girls' soccer team – full of energy and life and enthusiasm, fierce, determined, willing to dive right in and get grass-stained and muddy, but kind; not aggressive. Drinking 2023 to 2025.  Very Good Value.   - Jancis Robinson 16.5

Amy Wislocki writes:  Made by acclaimed consultant winemaker Stefano Chioccioli, and new on the shelves at Waitrose, this is textbook Frappato, delicate, bright and fresh. Bright cherry red in colour, this is summer pudding in a glass, with aromas and a mouthwatering purity of crushed wild strawberries, raspberries and pomegranate. It’s lean and elegant and a perfect summer red. Try it served ever so slightly chilled, with grilled tuna.  - Decanter 92

Our Notes

Debra of 67Wine.com | A thrill seeking wine from the volcanic region in Souther Italy, Mt. Etna, Benanti showcases this 100% Carricante at it's best.  Complexity on the nose with aromas and flavors of grapefruit, saline, fresh acidity with lots of minerality. A pure varietal expression,  this wine is full of life, vibrant, energetic and a lingering finish. 
Pair with ricotta cheese drizzled with orange and/or lemon rind, grilled swordfish, tuna, cheeses, and lemon pasta dishes.

Winemaker Notes

Occhipinti SP68 Bianco is a dry, organic and biodynamic white wine made with the Albanello and Moscato de Alejandría varieties and produced by Arianna Occhipinti, in Sicily, Italy.

"The name of a road, for a wine that is a journey", is the perfect and forceful description that Arianna Occhipinti gives to her Occhipinti SP68 Bianco, a wine that refers to the Strada Provinciale 68 as a tribute to all those peasants who have travelled along this road from the countryside for three thousand years, first with amphoras and then with barrels containing the fruit of their labour, fatigue and joy, and the aroma of their land.

In the middle of Strada Provinciale 68, in Vittoria, Sicily, we also find the Arianna Occhipinti winery where this Occhipinti SP68 Bianco was created. The wine is made with grapes that come from vineyards with an average age of 15 years, located 280 metres above sea level and composed of soils of red sand and limestone, which are cultivated according to the principles of organic agriculture and biodynamics.

The plots are cultivated without employing chemicals, and the grapes are harvested by hand and fermented with their native yeasts. The must remains in contact with the skins for 15 days. The wine is aged for 6 months in cement tanks and finally bottled unfiltered.

Occhipinti SP68 Bianco is a terroir wine born out of respect for the land and the vineyard, and reflects the philosophy of Arianna Occhipinti who states the following: "If the work in the vineyard is performed with care, the passage to the winery becomes simpler and requires fewer interventions. Winemaker Description. 

Critic Notes

Eric Guido writes:  The 2023 Bianco SP68 is distinctly savory, as wild herbs and wet concrete give way to crushed nectarines. This is soothingly round and supple with a spicy tinge of ginger up front, leading to tart orchard fruits and a cascade of salty minerals. The 2023 finishes vividly fresh yet still potent, leaving hints of green melon and lime zest that linger on and on. Allow the Bianco SP68 some time to open in the bottle to express its aromatics properly.  Drinking 2024 to 2027.  - Vinous 90

Winemaker Description

70% Frappato/30% Nero d'Avola. From certified-organic estate vines, averaging 20+ years old and planted on chalky, sandy soils. The bunches are harvested by hand, destemmed and co-fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in concrete tanks. Maceration lasts approximately two weeks. The wine is aged in concrete tanks for 6 months and bottled unfiltered. Sulfur use is modest. "SP68" is the Strada Provinciale 68, the country road on which the Occhipinti winery and home vineyard lie.

SP68 is a road but also a young wine. Fresh and pleasant, with a delicate taste that brings with it the taste of the sun and the freshness of this land. Juicy flavors of strawberry, raspberry and wild herbs complimented by refreshing acidity and soft tannins.

91 Points James Suckling | Aromas of ripe apricots, orange blossom, honeysuckle and citrus peel. Medium-bodied, clean and vivid with round, sleek texture. Flavorful finish. (2022).

90 Points Wine Enthusiast | A primarily savory nose of rubber, stone, pepper and oregano, draws balance from undertones of daffodils and citrus. That lemony current becomes a flood on the palate, but an enduring stony herbaceousness provides structure, before a tart, salty finish ties everything together. (2022).

Insolia grapes are manually selected in the Nordic microclimate of Ficuzza, Cusumano's largest vineyard, located in Northern Sicily. Light straw color with soft aromas of freshly-picked flowers and herbs. This Insolia opens the palate with refreshing flavors of apples and pears. Hints of citrus zest lingers throughout for a harmonious balance.

Pairs with lighter dishes such as salads or seafood.

Salvatore owns and operates a small farm in the Pachino region in the southeast corner of Sicily. There he grows a variety of crops including cereals for pasta flour, olives, fruits and of course grapes. Spontaneous fermentation with native yeast, unfined, minimal sulfites at bottling. The vines are planted in free standing bushes, and hand harvested with respect to the lunar calendar.

Winemaker Notes

Beautiful minerality shining through it, alongside touches of honeymelon and stone fruit. 

Very experienced natural wine drinkers may experience a small note of sulphur on the finish, but it does not distract from the uniqueness of this special wine.

Growing up in Agrigento on Sicily’s southern coast, Filippo Mangione had winemaking in his blood. For generations his family tended vines and made wine in their palmento until his grandfather passed away in the sixties. The vineyards and building were sold off; leaving his family without an estate.

After university, he dove headfirst into the world of wine: working as a waiter, sommelier, journalist, and sales/export in both the US and the UK. The more he worked selling other peoples’ wines, the more he felt the pull to revive his family’s legacy and re-establish an estate of his own. In 2011, after months of visiting and walking the slopes of Etna, Filippo happened to meet the old owner of a nearly abandoned vineyard in Calderara Sottana planted in the early 1900s behind a grove of chesnut trees. Too old to work the vineyards any longer, he was thrilled that Filippo wanted to continue his work, telling him “Take it. Don’t let this vineyard die.” Filippo spent his life savings to buy that vineyard and Ayunta was born.

The vineyards of Ayunta, now several parcels spread throughout the top terroirs (namely the contrada of Calderara Sottana) around Randazzo on northern Etna, total 2.8 ha. The vineyards are populated mainly by very old vines. Every vine is different which is why Filippo does all his farming either by hand or small machine. He doesn’t use any chemicals in his vineyards, preferring to allow the natural vitality of
the soil shine through in the wines.

Winemaker Description

Hugonis with its powerful and austere style is the most prized product of Tenuta Rapitalà, the legacy wine. The seal of Hugonis Bernardi – a knight in armor with two leopards – which appears on the label, is the coat-of-arms of the family of Hugues Bernard de la Gatinais and his son, Laurent.

100% estate-grown fruit is sourced from Nero d’Avola and Cabernet Sauvignon plots situated between 1,000 and 1,300 feet above sea level on rich, clay soils. Guyot-trained vines have limited yields of 28 quintals per acre.

Expert Reviews

92 Points Wine Advocate | The top shelf wine released by Tenuta Rapital is the 2013 Hugonis. The wine represents a bold blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Nero d'Avola from the southwest corner of Sicily. This wine is teaming with rich fruit flavors and backing spice. Cola, balsam herb and licorice add to the overall complexity. Hugonis closes with a sweet cherry note and offers thick textural richness. (2013).

90 Points Wine Spectator | Rich notes of black currant, bay leaf and anise are set in an elegant, medium- to full-bodied frame that is well-knit, with supple tannins. Creamy, showing hints of smoke and spicy mineral on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Nero d'Avola. Drink now through 2023. (2013). 

The light skin contact we apply on our white wines results in a combination of density as well as elegance and makes this wine very suited to accompany a wide variety of dishes and cuisine, from fish to white meat.

The vineyards (Calderara, Borriglione, Crasà and Picciolo) are located between 620 and 750 m. asl with. A blend of 50% Grecanico Dorato and 50% Carricante. Producer Description.

90 Points Wine Spectator | Iodine, dried fig and roasted almond notes leap from the glass in this finely balanced and creamy Marsala, in a dry style. Hints of singed orange peel and ground clove linger on the finish.

Winemaker Description

The first bottlings of our MunJebel rosso classico were blends of 2 vintages which I have always liked as it gives a good idea of a larger area instead of a vintage wine. When I stopped blending vintages as of the 2012 vintage to search for more precision, I kind of missed the evolved “old-school” style of the first wines I produced and so I decided in 2016 to produce a similar style wine again, applying the “perpetual” method of great solera wines.

The first edition will be a blend of 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. We will be bottling 25% of this first edition in 2021 and adding the selected wine of the 2020 vintage to fill up the tank again. Perpetuum is born! Winemaker Description.