TOSONE | Nero d’Avola | Sicilia | 2020
nero d’avola

We will be evaluating wines in no particular order on no particular schedule. Just stay tuned and you will never miss our reviews. If the wine is tasted more than once, the rating table will be updated so as to reflect all the new impressions and observations.

Today we are going to review a wine that we were eager to try for quite some time – a single varietal nero d’avola wine from Sicily – Nero d’Avola Sicilia 2020 by Tosone. Nero d’Avola is Sicily’s most important red grape variety, also known as Calabrese, often likened to Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah due to its full-bodied style and reminiscent flavors of black fruits and tobacco. Nero d’Avola is a hot climate grape variety, hence it is most often dry-farmed. In Sicily, many of the oldest Nero d’Avola vineyards are Alberello-pruned or head-trained close to the ground, so that it can resist to hot winds that are blowing throughout the island. Stylistically, there are two winemaking ideologies of Nero d’Avola vinification: one is a more fruit-forward, opulent and black-fruit driven style, enhanced by coffee and chocolate flavors derived from oak aging, while the other style is much leaner and more elegant with vibrant red fruit flavors, herbal notes and very little oak aging (if any at all). This particular wine is a bit of both, partly aged in oak barrels and partly in stainless steel tanks in order to preserve the varietal typicity of nero d’avola grapes, but at the same time to gain some extra complexity. What makes this wine stand apart from its peers is the fact that it is not the work of a single winemaker, but rather the result of a whole team of world-class oenologists, who carefully selected only the best grapes in order to create the very best expression of a true sicilian, terroir-driven, nero d’avola wine – a wine that was awarded 99 points by Luca Maroni. But enough with all that theory, that said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
_________________________________________________________________________
Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: medium-deep ruby color
clarity: hazy ruby shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & flamboyant
fruit profile: black fruits | blue fruits
__black fruits: blackberry | black cherry | aronia berry 
__blue fruits: blueberry | blue plum | honeyberry | blackthorn
fruit character: ripe & overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: floral | spice | oak | earth | other
__floral: violets | lavender
__spice: nutmeg | anise | cloves | tonka seeds 
__oak: liquorice | toasted oakwood | hints of vanilla
__earth: granite | graphite | slate | volcanic soil dust
__other: new leather
primary layer: fruit

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: medium+
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: alcohol
body: round | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: blue & black fruits
fruit character: ripe & overripe
non fruit: spice | oak | earth
finish: medium
aftertaste: seedy-crisp

//Scoring
TOSONE | Nero d’Avola | Sicilia | 2020
variety: nero d’avola
country: Italy
region: Sicilia
rating: 93.4

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | drink now or age for 2 or 3 more years
verdict: great | a must try wine

//Prediction
predicted RP rating: 90

_________________________________________________________________________

This is definitely a great wine of Italy and, with a total of 93.4 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a quite flamboyant and rich nero d’avola wine, with a very expressive nose and a firm palate. The wine is still in its development phase, yet very close to the peak of its form, therefore we would recommend to either enjoy it today or within the next 2 or 3 years, as it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. On the nose the wine brings ripe and overripe, blue and black fruit flavours in the foreground, supported by a very appealing, spicy-oaky background and a floral-earthy layer in between the two. On the palate the wine delivers crisp acidity, ripe and seedy tannins and quite a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which evolves nicely into a seedy-crisp aftertaste. All in all, this is a delicious, very appealing and extracted nero d’avola wine that feels rich, well balanced and nicely structured – and absolute crowd-pleaser. What this wine lacks today is maybe just a bit of finesse and elegance on the palate, otherwise, this is a wine that has both, its own distinctive personality and the footprint of that volcanic sicilian terroir. We believe that this wine will pair lovely with delicate but spicy red meats, like for example a peppercorn filet mignon steak or a classic, savory Tournedos Rossini steak. Enjoy!

_________________________________________________________________________
© The WineStatistics ratings are based solely on our own knowledge of the world of wine and on our personal wine tastes, which may, or may not, differ from yours – the reader. Just remember that there are no absolutes of right and wrong in wine appreciation.