Mulinea Nero d'Avola (by Casa Vinicola Curatolo)Italia: Sicily (Marsala)
100% Nero d'Avola (red)
2008
85 pts
$12.99
Nero d'Avola, Sicily's great varietal, was once used to beef-up weaker wines, but today is standing tall on its own as an interesting bargain-buy, sometimes similar to Sryah (bold, full-bodied, and fruit-forward, but with some earthiness, too) and sometimes just a bit too much. The Mulinea is the first Nero d'Avola I'm rating, although it will not be the last. This full-bodied wine is the color of a dark plum skin. The nose offers some bright, candy-like raspberry and then black pepper, with earthy, musty undertones. Nice. The flavor profile, at least with the 2008 vintage, is very young, reminiscent of unripe dark fruit (blue or blackberries, dark red?), followed by a whole lot of nothing...no pepper, and none of the earthy undertones, which one does pick up on the aroma. The finish is not much to write home about, either, and the length is below average, a bit of a Houdini. This isn't a terrible wine (or I would not have consumed half the bottle, tonight), but it's also not a wine to seek out, to get excited about. Supposed to stand up well to beef and lamb dishes. I'm just getting started with this varietal...more to come!
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