Winemaker Notes
Duca Enrico, vibrant red in color with purple tinges, stands out for its complexity and elegance. The citrus notes of blood orange and spices are complemented on the nose by hints of red berries, which are due to ageing in barriques. It is vertical on the palate, with sweet, enveloping tannins and a lingering finish.
It is ideal with grilled and braised red meats and game. It is excellent with medium and mature cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2020 Duca di Salaparuta Duca Enrico Nero d’Avola displays a medium ruby hue and opens with vibrant aromas of red and black fruits. On the palate, it is lively and expressive, offering layers of ripe blackberries and dark cherries supported by a bright, balanced structure. The wine’s energy and depth make it an excellent match for braised chicken with wild mushrooms—a dish whose earthy richness beautifully complements Nero d’Avola’s vivid fruit and savory undertones. (Tasted: November 10, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
On the nose, sweet aromas of vanilla, tobacco, blackberry and sugar plum waft above spicy, weightier notes of cinnamon, cardamom and clove. The more decadently sweet palate asserts flavors of macerated blackberries and whipped cream, but passion fruit also brings out the blackberries' tartness, and tannins provide grit.
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Jeb Dunnuck
While the other wines were more savory, the medium red/magenta-colored 2020 Nero D'Avola Duca Enrico leads with an attractive floral perfume followed by notes of mixed berry fruit. Almost 15% alcohol (although it doesn’t feel hot), it’s full-bodied, with ripe tannins, saltiness, preserved orange peel, anise, and fresh plum. It’s savory, with a bright spine of acidity, notes of dusty earth, and some grip with its tannins on the finish.
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James Suckling
Licorice, star anise and cumin on the nose, alongside black cherries. Smoky hints, too. It’s bold, ripe and spicy with full body and broad tannins. Big and chewy. Drink now or hold.
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Wine Spectator
There's a ripe, almost jammy quality to the black raspberry, black currant and black cherry fruit flavors, but all are balanced nicely by bright, blood orange peel acidity and savory notes of herbed olive, milled pepper and leather. The fine tannins are creamy on the licorice-laced finish. Drink now through 2027. 1,000 cases made, 100 cases imported.
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.