NERELLO MASCALESE

Wine from Sicily

VINO IGT TERRE SICILIANE

VINO ROSSO

GRAPE: Nerello Mascalese

PRODUCTION PROCESS: maceration with controlled temperature.

ALCOHOL CONTENT: 14% vol.

STORAGE: store in a cool place at constant temperature.

PAIRINGS:

Excellent “magnifico “ with white meats, fish dishes, wild mushroom and eggplant filo parcels and linguini with tomato and clams.

SERVING TEMPERATURE: 16-18°C

The Nerello Mascalese

Nerello Mascalese is a highly regarded, dark-skinned grape variety that grows most commonly on the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily.

Its wines, which have had a rapid upsurge in popularity in the last decade, have a tendency to reflect their surroundings, giving taut, fresh red wines with fruity, herbaceous flavors, excellent minerality and an earthy nuance. Nerello Mascalese wines often have a perfume reminiscent of those of the noble wines of Barolo and Burgundy.

The hugely variable volcanic soils of Etna combined with elevations of up to 1000m above sea level - some of the highest vineyards in Europe - help produce wines with immense character and complexity, and without the excessive weight that often characterizes Sicilian red wines from lower altitudes. Nerello Mascalese is a late-ripening variety, and most vines are trained in the traditional bush-vine method, which works well in the terroir.

Recent DNA testing has suggested that the variety is quite probably the offspring of Italy's famous Sangiovese grape variety, and a connection to Carricante has also been mooted.