Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red colored, Mille e una Notte 2014 is characterized by an ample bouquet, with fruity notes (blackberry and plum) and balsamic (liquorice) and spicy scents followed by hints of chocolate. The palate is soft and embracing, surprising with an extraordinary silky tannin. A remarkable long persistence on the finish.
We suggest it with Slow-cooked rack of lamb, pappardelle with pork ragout, roasts, tournedos Rossini.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of cool black fruit on the nose, with tar, dark currants, blackberries, mocha, tobacco and bitter chocolate. Intensely flavorful, with a medium to full body and firm, very fine tannins. Very fresh. Lots of life. Nero d’avola, syrah and petit verdot. From one of the coolest growing seasons ever in Sicily. Serious. Tasted from magnum.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Mille e Una Notte is mostly Nero d'Avola with some other red grapes in a supporting role. This was a terrific vintage in Sicily that did not see the below average temperatures and heavy rainfall that plagued the rest of mainland Italy. Instead, the growing season was characterized by balanced temperatures and steady sunshine. The fruit has matured beautifully here, showing blackberry, ripe cherry and plum. Tangy leather and spice add complexity to the wine. This is a full-bodied red with beautiful textual richness.
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Vinous
The 2014 Mille e Una Notte is dusty and understated, with a delicate bouquet of sweet spices and cedar shavings giving way to dried black cherries. Lifted and pliant, it cascades across the palate with graphite-tinged red berry fruits as a wave of cooling acidity maintains remarkable freshness. This tapers off with a sour citrus concentration and a hint of tart blackberry that lingers. While closed up today, the 2014 has a balance that will carry it in the cellar for many years to come. I'm very excited to see what further aging will reveal. Rating: 92+
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Wine Enthusiast
Underbrush, Mediterranean scrub, toast and exotic spice aromas leap from the glass. The concentrated, velvety palate doles out blackberry jam, ripe raspberry, vanilla and licorice, while tightly knit, fine-grained tannins provide structure.
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Wine Spectator
An expressive red that offers a lovely skein of fragrant spice and graphite flavors unraveling through the baked plum, fig cake, cured tobacco and tarry smoke notes. This is lightly mouthwatering throughout, medium- to full-bodied, with plush tannins firming the finish. Nero d'Avola, Petite Verdot and Syrah. Drink now through 2026.
Boldly opulent and robust, Nero d’Avola is Sicily’s most widely planted red grape. Nero d’Avola performs well both as a single varietal bottling and in blends. It loves hot, arid climates and Sicily's old vines are aptly head-trained close to the ground, making them resistant to strong winds. A few pioneering producers in California as well as Australia farm Nero d’Avola in the same way. Somm Secret—Nero d’Avola's other name, Calabrese, suggests origins from the mainland region of Calabria.
A large, geographically and climatically diverse island, just off the toe of Italy, Sicily has long been recognized for its fortified Marsala wines. But it is also a wonderful source of diverse, high quality red and white wines. Steadily increasing in popularity over the past few decades, Italy’s fourth largest wine-producing region is finally receiving the accolades it deserves and shining in today's global market.
Though most think of the climate here as simply hot and dry, variations on this sun-drenched island range from cool Mediterranean along the coastlines to more extreme in its inland zones. Of particular note are the various microclimates of Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, where vineyards grow on drastically steep hillsides and varying aspects to the Ionian Sea. The more noteworthy red and white Sicilian wines that come from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna include Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (reds) and Carricante (whites). All share a racy streak of minerality and, at their best, bear resemblance to their respective red and white Burgundies.
Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted red variety, and is great either as single varietal bottling or in blends with other indigenous varieties or even with international ones. For example, Nero d'Avola is blended with the lighter and floral, Frappato grape, to create the elegant, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, one of the more traditional and respected Sicilian wines of the island.
Grillo and Inzolia, the grapes of Marsala, are also used to produce aromatic, crisp dry Sicilian white. Pantelleria, a subtropical island belonging to the province of Sicily, specializes in Moscato di Pantelleria, made from the variety locally known as Zibibbo.