Zensa Organic Nero D`Avola Appassimento, Sicilia DOP, Sicily, Italy, 2024

Grape: 100% Nero D' Avola, organic, 20-35 year old vines, hand picked, 20% of the wine aged for 4-5 months in oak barriques

Producer Tasting Note:

This intense, smooth and velvety wine is full of ripe red berry aromas with flavours of cherries, prunes and blackcurrants, supported by soft tannins. The finish is long and expansive with a delicate spice. Attractive and ripe, yet savoury and refreshing.

The wine is made in an appassimento style where 20% of the grapes which are picked in mid of September are placed in small crates in aerated lofts for 10-15 days for a natural drying of the grapes. The rest of the grapes benefit from a later, normal harvest and the two parts are then vinified together to produce the final wine.

The organic Zensa range is made by Alessandro Michelon of Orion Wines. He is one of Italy’s most innovative winemakers working with selected growers and indigenous grapes that express the character of their region. Zensa means “without” or “to do without” in Italian, and this superb organic wine is made without pesticides and fertilisers. The grapes are sourced from organic vineyards in Puglia where the vines are grown as free-standing bush vines.

Food Match: A wine that is perfect for drinking with rich pasta dishes, lamb and stews, but also on its own.