ZISOLA Zisola Nero d'Avola, Mazzei 2007 Grape Varieties 100% Nero D'Avola Food Matching Note: This Nero d'Avola pairs very well with hearty meat stews and meaty pasta sauces. It is also excellent with game; try it with jugged hare finished with bitter chocolate. Tasting Note: Nero by name, nearly opaque by nature, this wine has brooding mulberry fruit on the nose and a palate showing black fruit along with plenty of extract and body. Underlying this depth, there is the trademark Mazzei smoothness and elegance, with a very successful use of oak, giving a rounded, complex whole. Vinification Note: The Nero d'Avola grapes which go into this wine are grown in the Mazzei family's new vineyards in the South East of Sicily, which is where the variety originates. The bush vines are relatively densely planted at 5,500 vines per hectare. Picking is by hand and takes place in the second half of September. Fermentation lasts for 14-16 days and is carried out at 28-30C. Following this, the wine is aged for ten months in 50% new French oak barriques and the wine is bottled a year after harvest. Find this wine at www.winestore.co.uk Price: £19.18 (Including VAT at 20%)