Real deal cost: $11.99
Easy now, the title is NOT misspelled, and this article has nothing to do with between-the-sheets romance.
Rather, we have a red wine blend created through a marriage of equal parts of four grapes indigenous to Sicily: Frappato Nero, Nerello Cappuccio, Nerello Mascalese, and Nero D’Avola. You likely never heard of any of these grapes, and there’s little reason to commit them to memory; unless, of course, you’d like to impress your wine-snob friends.
This Sicilian red wine is a collaboration between the Tuscan estate Dievole and the Sicilian vintner Saro di Pietro, and was bottled in the Saro di Pietro Estate in Pachino, Sicily. Again, there won’t be a quiz, so no need to remember all this except for sounding good in front of a crowd.
What matters most is that this wine is an affordable alternative to Chianti Riservas that cost around five to ten dollars more. Ripe black cherry, tar, blackberry, and roasted meat aromas fill the nose, while the palate is dominated by ripe black cherry and a smooth texture. Good acidity and medium tannins hold things together quite nicely, and the wine finishes with a good balance that includes ripe fruit and hints of tobacco and a pleasantly bitter vegetal / earthy component. Because of that touch of bitterness at the end, I suggest you match this with food before trying it alone. It will go well with cheeses and cheesy dishes, pasta in marinara, pizza, sausage, eggplant parm, and blackened white meats.
For a wine that holds such a seductive and promiscuous name, it should be sexier; instead, it is a solid Chianti fill-in. An OK-to-good value at 12.99, if you can get it closer to ten bucks then grab it.
