Nero d’Avola
The Rallo winery has a history stretching back more than a hundred years in the Trapani area of Western Sicily. Founded in 1860 by Don Diego Rallo, the winery spent much of its history focused on producing Marsala-style wines. With the waning popularity of Marsala, the original winery was forced to close in the late 1980s. Fortunately, in 1997, the Vesco family stepped in and restarted operations, focusing on producing dry, unfortified wines. Since then, Rallo has gone from strength to strength – achieving organic certification in 2007 and concentrating on producing terroir-specific wines from indigenous varieties.
Manually harvested, organically grown grapes undergo a short maceration period of 1 week - 40% whole bunches and 60% destemmed grapes. After a fermentation using wild yeasts, the wine is aged in stainless steel vats for six months and then in wooden barrels for five months. Neither fined nor filtered, with just a minimal amount of sulphur added at bottling.
Tasting Notes : A fresh and energetic Nero d’Avola, with flavours of black cherries, red plums and a hint of bitter chocolate on the finish.
Food Pairing : Perfect alongside rich tomato-based sauces and pasta. La Dispensa’s Venison Ragu and a spot of tagliatelle would be unbeatable !