VILLA TONINO `Baglio Curatolo` Nero d`Avola 2007 Since the 1999 vintage, Alberto Antonini has acted as a consultant to the Curatolos and brought with him the modern winemaking skills that allow the native Sicilian varieties he is working with to express their maximum potential. The resulting Villa Tonino wines are uniformly excellent, combining the richness that Sicily can provide with the freshness only someone with Alberto.s winemaking experience can retain. Antonini loves working with the Nero d‘Avola grape. A native of Sicily, it needs warm sites to ripen fully. ‘Nero d‘Avola is very similar to Syrah,‘ explains Antonini, ‘Except that it needs more heat.‘ The grapes for this wine came from a single vineyard near Agrigento in south central Sicily. The altitude here is 650m above sea level and the soils predominantly clay. The must was fermented in stainless steel tanks and then aged in small new French and American oak barrels for 6 months. The maturation in oak serves to tame the wild fennel character of the Nero d‘Avola and adds a cedary elegance. The wine was lightly filtered before bottling. Deep coloured and perfumed, with aromas of fennel seed, plums and a touch of mocha on the nose. On the palate it is rounded and powerful, with chocolate and plum characters, robust but wellbalanced tannins and a lovely, long, spiced plum finish. Vintage 2007 Grape varieties 100% Nero d‘Avola Region Marsala Winemaker Alberto Antonini Closure Cork Alcohol (ABV) 13.5% Find this wine at www.winestore.co.uk Price: £60.78 (Including VAT at 20%)