Bosman Family Vineyards Nero d’Avola 2020
Few people would describe Roman Emperor Nero as nice; he was blood-thirsty and probably started the Great Fire of Rome to make way for his golden palace… Fortunately, Nero d’Avola is not named after him, as wine marketers would have had to overcome some seriously negative name recognition… ‘Nero’ means black in Italian and refers to the colour of the grapes. ‘d’Avola’ refers to the village in Sicily that it hails from, hence ‘Black from Avola’.
This is South Africa’s only Nero d’Avola. Petrus Bosman came upon Nero d’Avola via a contact at Palermo University. A few cuttings eventually grew into a vineyard and in 2014 the first grapes were harvested. Winemaker Corlea Fourie – who had no experience with the variety – allowed the grapes to express themselves rather than interfere too much.
The hand-picked grapes were hand sorted, destemmed and then lightly crushed. Before fermentation, the juice was left on the skins for two days. Impressive colour was extracted by regular punch downs. After three weeks on the skins, the wine was pressed and transferred into 20% new French oak barrels – the rest being second and third fill. Selected barrels were finally blended and matured for a few months to ensure a smooth result.
The medium-bodied wine is ruby red with a purple rim. Red berries and spice characterise the nose, while the palate has generous fruit with a good tannin structure and a long finish.
For food pairings, pretty much anything Italian – preferably tomato-based – will work, as will an aromatic curry. If, like the emperor, you like fire a grilled steak would be just the ticket.
Alcohol 14.28% vol | Residual/Sugar 2.3 g/l | Total Acid 5.8 g/l | pH 3.58
www.bosmanwines.com | +27 (0)21 21 873 3170