This is a classic Italian Nonna of a wine, expressive, full of flavour and larger than life - she'll tell you off while feeding you pasta. Buckets of dark overripe cherries and a thread of smokiness give it a rich full bodied palate and aroma, with undertones of cassis and chocolate making up the chorus. Velvet soft tannins give this a wonderful length and finish. There is a reason this has become a banchmark for its quality to price ratio, and while it is ripe for drinking now a couple of years in the cellar will take this from a $25 bottle to a $60 one.
The Morgante family own 200 hectares of vineyards, olive and almond groves that sweep along a series of hills about 25 kilometres from the famous ancient Valley of the Temples of Agrigento - one of the world's most important archeological sites and a Unesco world heritage site since 1998. The family has been growing Nero d'Avola for five generations, but it was only in 1994 that Antonio Morgante, encouraged by sons Carmelo and Giovanni, decided to vinify their own grapes for the first time. In 1997 they were joined by winemaker Riccardo Cotarella, who shares the Morgante passion for producing great red wines from Nero d'Avola. The region is ideal for viticulture and the vineyards, planted at 450-550 metres above sea level, bask in the Mediterranean sun during the day and are cooled by breezes at night.
