Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A Sicilian red with tension and structure. Blackberry, walnut and violet aromas and flavors with hints of sandalwood. Full body, firm tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Impressive now but better in a year or two. Serious. Big improvement in quality.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
When I search for an everyday red wine value, my notes often land me in Sicily. The 2013 Fuedo Maccari Saia drinks swimmingly well. The wine shows red and black fruits, dried leaves and savory spices, and just enough tannins to add a nice edge to the finish. Drinks well now with rosemary-accented pork tenderloin. (Tasted: September 12, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Sicilia Saia offers dark cherry and dried blackberry with a good amount of spice, leather and tar at the back. This is a full and complete expression of Nero d'Avola that exhibits the soft and sophisticated side of the grape. The wine is aged in oak for 14 months and both its structure and persistence are well evident as a result.
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Wine & Spirits
Antonio Moretti, owner of Tenuta Setti Ponti in Tuscany, began buying vineyard land in Sicily in 2000. He now owns close to 620 acres near the island’s southern tip, in the region of Noto. The 2013 Saia, from alberello-trained vines, is dark and earthy, with notes of tobacco and damp leaves swirling through flavors of black and red berries. Mineral tones add to the grippy structure, and it finishes warm and spicy, ready for braised lamb shanks.
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Wine Enthusiast
Toast, espresso, black plum and leather aromas open up in the nose. The round, juicy palate delivers ripe black cherry, blackberry, dark cooking spice and a gamy note alongside fine-grained tannins that give it a firm finish.
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Wine Spectator
Medium-bodied and stylish, with fine-grained tannins married to a rich palate of chocolate pudding, crème de cassis, dried marjoram and graphite notes. Lightly grippy, but refined overall. Nero d'Avola. Drink now through 2023.
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.