| Nero d'Avola is the most
important red wine grape in Sicily, and is one of Italy's
most important indigenous varieties. Avola, as it happens,
is a wine-growing village in Southeastern Sicily, where
the variety evolved through selection by vine growers
centuries ago, and from where it has spread throughout
the island. Its wines are compared to New World Shirazes,
with sweet tannins and plum or peppery flavours. It also
contributes to Marsala blends. For generations it was
used primarily to make strong, neutral red wine that was
shipped throughout Europe to be used - often surreptitiously
- to add color and weight to lighter reds, prompting some
French producers to nickname it "le vin médecine."
In Sicily, a wine-rich
land where the locals have as many words related to
wines and grapes as the Eskimos allegedly have for snow,
Nero d'Avola is also called "Calabrese", a
synonym that for years prompted the experts to assume
that the variety was originally imported from Calabria
on the mainland. But that's not so, the inaccurate synonym
Calabrese ("from Calabria") appears to be
an Italianisation of "Calaurisi", a Sicilian
dialect word meaning "coming from Avola".
Its parentage is uncertain -
it may or may not be related to Syrah, which some people
claim is named after Syracuse. There are no significant
plantings outside Sicily.
Whatever the relationship, Nero
d'Avola is treated like Syrah, making mostly big red
wines with ageing potential. It also gets made into
a lighter style for drinking young, which might be compared
to some of the New World Shiraz rosés. In the
past it was exported to quietly 'beef up' wines from
more northern climes, but is now enjoying success as
a proudly Sicilian varietal.
Translated "The black of
Avola," this grape makes a rich, perfumed and velvety
red wine that's easy to drink but that can take a bit
of aging, works well in blends with other grapes, and
can benefit from (but does not require) the judicious
use of oak. That's a lot to like in a wine grape, and
it's a description that could just as easily fit many
of the most desirable red varieties. |
