February 7, 2012 - Absolutely beautiful and still going strong with aromas of dark cherries, flowers, and earth. On the nose this shows very little oxidation with surprising, merlotish weight in the mouth if you will. I'd love to have the opportunity to try this again but I think that'll prove nearly impossible. Drink by summer, 2013.
February 14, 2011 - Really excellent. Gorgeous perfume. High toned, red fruit on the palate with ripping acidity. Delicious right now but can see aging and improving. Looking forward to trying my other bottles over the next several years.
April 6, 2010 - Light ruby colour with delicate copper reflexes. At first animal aromas, scents of leather, mineral and volcanic aromas of petrol and blacktop. Aromas of cherries and red berries open with time. On the palate light, fresh, with reduced fruit and moderate acidity and tannins. Short.
February 2, 2010 - Very tasty. Medium bodies, smooth, luscious notes of cherry, good acidity. Went very well with yellowfin tuna encrusted in fennel seed and coriander over a bed of greens and potatoes.
December 7, 2009 - Light to medium bodied with with a translucent red color. Nothing special but easy to drink.
October 1, 2009 - Nice but a little disappointing in view of very positive reports. A little touch of earth and iron beneath the light sweet fruit but nothing thrilling here.
July 6, 2009 - Wine Education Service - Sicily and Sardinia (LSE): Just opaque with a bit of age.
Fishy shells, salt and lots of vegetal notes.
Fishy but fruity as well, not what you expect from a wine, needs big food, interesting, intriguing but not my taste.
July 6, 2009 - Wine Education Service Sicily & Sardinia Tasting (LSE, London): Bright ruby colour. Vegetal aroma dominates, cabbage in particular. Some salty bacon notes and black olives. Soft, fleshy almost soupy palate. Fruit comes back on the bitter finish. Unusual and opens up with time in the glass, losing much of the vegetal character.
May 31, 2009 - Full, rich, smooth - dark chocolate, leather, a little red fruit. V. good.
March 3, 2009 - 60% Nero d'Avola, 40% Frappato di Vittoria, 13% ABV I was persuaded by my chatty and enthusiastic local Philglas & Swiggot man to buy this unusual Sicilian red wine with a strange fat bottle, not cheap at around £17.00, but which turned out to be an excellent recommendation. I was looking for something Italian, exciting and different. I'm trying to expand my knowledge of the bewildering array of native Italian varieties. You would have thought that being from Sicily, which has a hot, dry climate, that we'd be looking at a wine with high extraction, high alcohol, intense stewed fruit aromas and abrasive tannins, but actually it's more like a Burgundy - soft, light, gorgeously aromatic with a fresh, vivid, minerally finish. This is a very surprising and interesting find. It looks unusual, to start with - the bottle is short and plump - and the label is austere. The ABV is only 13%, which is rare for a Mediterranean wine nowadays. The colour is a light, garnet red, and the wine exudes a gentle perfume of smoked bacon, tobacco and toasty oak, followed by a very balanced, impeccably structured mouthfeel with both savoury and sweet sensations - grilled meats, blackberries - and a very pleasant, impressive, elegant, tightly wound, mineral finish. Tim Atkin recently wrote that Sicily was making great wines - this is definitely proof of that.