Nostru Nerello Mascalese, IGT , Azienda Agricola Cortese, Sicily, Italy 2023

75cl bottle.

Organic.

100% Nerello Mascalese. Lightly oaked medium bodied red with spice leather and fresh cherry fruit with silky tannins.

Sustainably produced, organic, made from indigenous, ancient grape varieties.

On closer inspection of the vineyards, despite their wild appearance, it transpired that there were a lot of very old and extremely interesting vines which were producing excellent fruit, so it was decided to carry out the vintage, rather than start on the maintenance immediately and surprisingly good results were achieved. During the harvest period it became clear that these mature vineyards had some unique clones – something really different – and that the fully ripened grapes were truly exceptional, despite the condition of the vineyards.  All of the grapes for the top range, “Cortese Selezione”, are grown on the estate.

Taking tradition as inspiration, Girelli employs ancient wine-making techniques such as fermentation in terracotta, which allows skin-contact for a particularly long time.  The wine is fermented on the skins, finishing the fermentation in bottle, and they keep the wine on its fine lees for at least nine months.  Fermentation in open barriques means that they can ferment really small parcels of wine at any one time – a kind of micro-fermentation.