Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red colored, Mille e una Notte 2015 is characterized by an ample bouquet, with fruity notes (blackberry and black mulberry) and balsamic (liquorice) and spicy scents followed by hints of cacao. 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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Decanter
Elegantly self-assured on the nose. Cassis and violets with a note of cocoa powder, a touch of inkiness and a hint of wild herbs. Intense fruit palate and the velvety texture of super-refined, perfectly integrated tannins. Long, fresh, balanced finish. Drinking Window 2019 - 2030
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Donnafugata's showcase wine is the always delightful Mille e Una Notte, with 40,000 bottles released in this vintage. The 2015 Sicilia Mille e Una Notte is a beautifully saturated and dark wine, with an elegant full-bodied style and plenty of black fruit and plum that shines bright. The quality of those primary aromas is radiant and fresh. The wine shows its complexity in a second wave of spice, leather and black olive. The blend is mostly Nero d'Avola with Petit Verdot, Syrah and other grapes, and the wine rests in oak barrel for 14 months. This vintage is particularly rich, soft and exuberant. Rating: 95+
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Wine & Spirits
Donnafugata’s flagship red marries nero d’avola, petit verdot and syrah in a bold and spicy wine accented by briny tones that give it a distinctively Sicilian personality. Layers of licorice, caper and black olive enrich the ripe plum and blackberry flavors, and the wine takes on a grilled-game savor to match its meaty tannins. Scents of violet, rosemary and bay leaf add lift while spice notes linger on the long finish.
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James Suckling
Lots of blueberry and blackberry character, full body, medium-chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This blend of Nero d’Avola, Petit Verdot, Syrah and a small percentage of other grape varieties offers ripe dark-skinned berry, mocha and cedar aromas. The concentrated but elegant palate delivers prune, licorice, tobacco and carob notes alongside fine-grained tannins. Enjoy through 2025.
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Wine Spectator
Baking spice and leather notes accent the flavors of baked black currant, herbed olive and fig cake in this balanced, medium- to full-bodied red, framed by creamy tannins. Supple finish. Nero d'Avola, Petit Verdot and Syrah. Drink now through 2025.
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.