Tenuta di Castellaro Nero Ossidiana – 2012

The wine is made from 60% Corinto, 25% Nero D’Avola, with the balance comprising other equally little-known local grapes and is about as typically and uniquely Italian in its dark, black fruit flavours as it is possible to find! The style is more Burgundian than anything else, which is astonishing given the Islands’ southerly location, but a result of the cooling sea breezes off the Mediterranean and the thin volcanic soil. Definitely worth a try!
“The 2012 Nero Ossidiana is a bright and sprightly red wine with dark berry flavors of cassis and dried cherry that segue to dark mineral, lead pencil shavings, licorice and spice. This is an edgy, focused and razor sharp red wine with a tangy and racy style. There is a point of bitterness that may be unattractive to some, but it works well with creamy foods such as pasta and cheese or risotto. Nero Ossidana is a wine of enormous character and distinctiveness.

Tenuta di Castellaro is one of my secret crush estates. I always look forward to tasting the wines from the only vineyard I know of on the spectacularly beautiful island of Lipari, off the northern coast of Sicily. These wines immediately recall the volcanic overtones of this favorite summertime destination.” Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate