Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
smiling, “I say this because in our trials with
Nero d'Avola grown in different parts of the
island, even using similar winemaking and
viticultural techniques, the wines could not
have been more different; to my mind, the soil
and climate alone cannot explain the amazing
diversity of the wines.” Four such biotypes,
simply named A through D, have recently been
the subject of study by the University of Milan,
and two are apparently of very high quality, one
with round and the other with oval berries (the
latter is believed to be the better of the two).
Nero d'Avola is very vigorous, so canopy man-
agement is essential, but despite its vigor, dif-
fi culties with fl owering impact yields greatly.
Nero d'Avola generally fl owers early in the sea-
son and ripens by mid-September. It is blended
with Frappato in wines like Cerasuolo di Vitto-
ria. But it ripens two weeks earlier than Frap-
pato, and manages well even in damper, cooler
soils (Frappato does not, preferring dry and hot
conditions) and so is planted in areas where its
complementary variety cannot grow well. How-
ever, Nero d'Avola also likes heat and this is why
it is often trained close to the ground.
At over eighteen thousand hectares in 2010
data, Nero d'Avola is Sicily's second most-com-
mon cultivar, almost three times more abun-
dant than Ansonica (Inzolia), the third most-
planted Sicilian variety. Nero d'Avola's
popularity is well exemplifi ed by what hap-
pened between 2000 and 2008, when a 33 per-
cent increase in plantings was recorded on the
island, mainly in its southeastern corner, Nero
d'Avola's original home and where the best
vineyards are located. Other data, from 2008,
reports that there were over 19,000 hectares
planted to Nero d'Avola, but it's not clear if this
number referred to Italy as a whole or just Sic-
ily; were the latter true, then it could mean that
some of the wind is sagging out of Nero
d'Avola's sails (and sales). Still, the only part of
Sicily where Nero d'Avola is not prevalent is in
the northeastern corner, the domain of the
Nerello varieties. Nonetheless, Nero d'Avola is
now the seventh most-common wine grape
variety in Italy as a whole, and is starting to
attract interest outside Italy too. The grape's
ability to tolerate highly saline soils and heat
without dropping its acidity has garnered it
increasing interest by producers in the world's
warmer wine production areas. In Australia for
example, there are numerous plantings in
Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Geelong, Heath-
cote (in the ancient, red, rocky volcanic soils of
the driest, most northern part of Heathcote),
Riverina, Riverland (another suitably hot area),
and Margaret River and a number of estates are
making Nero d'Avola wines. In California, it is
planted in Sonoma County, Tracy Hills, and
Ukiah Valley, among other regions. Since Nero
d'Avola buds relatively early and ripens late
(and in these lands, apparently later than it
does in Sicily), there is a potential frost risk at
both the start and fi nish of the growing season
in cooler areas such as the Ukiah Valley.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Any Sicilian red wine is likely to include Nero
d'Avola; of the blends, I strongly recommend
Cerasuolo di Vittoria, now a DOCG, in which
Nero d'Avola is blended with Frappato, a match
seemingly made in heaven, as the fl oral fra-
grance and light body of Frappato marry well
with Nero d'Avola's richer texture. Those Cera-
suolo di Vittoria wines that are made with
larger amounts of Nero d'Avola (wines can have
as much as 40 percent Frappato) are easily rec-
ognized, invariably richer and deeper, but less
perfumed. DOC wines of note include Delia
Nivolelli and Contea di Sclafani, but the list is
virtually endless (and includes Alcamo,
Marsala, Noto, and Eloro), as is the list of IGT
wines in which Nero d'Avola can be used (at last
count, close to sixty different IGTs).
Nero d'Avola is by far Sicily's most impor-
tant red wine, and is being increasingly bottled
on its own as a monovarietal. Crazy blends still
exist though, such as those with large percent-
ages of Merlot, Syrah, or Cabernet Sauvignon,
declared up front or not (and in my opinion,
far too many “important” and highly scored
Nero d'Avola wines reek of these other varie-
ties). Such blends do absolutely nothing for the
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