Read the full article by Joseph V. Micallef at Forbes

Sicily is better known for its red wines, even though they are only about a third of the Mediterranean island’s output. Many a pizza or pasta dinner has been accompanied by Sicily’s inexpensive, ubiquitous red wine Nero d’Avola.

The island hosts a large number of red wine varietals. International varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. More interesting are the several dozen, ancient, indigenous red wine grapes, in particular: Nero d’Avola, Nerello Mascalese, Frappato and Perricone

Perricone is grown primarily in western Sicily where it is used predominantly for blending. Usually combined with Nero d’Avola it produces, highly alcoholic wines. When picked ripe, Perricone produces wines that are high in acidity, with distinctive tannic backbones that feature ripe red fruit, dry herbal notes and earth, with a lingering bitter note on the finish. 

Try the Feudo Montoni, Vigna del Core, Perricone, 2018, DOC Sicilia. The wine is dark red, offering up intense blackberry notes along with mulberry and milk chocolate. On the palate, there are more blackberries, along with dark fruit and milk chocolate. The wine has good acidity, but still shows the tannic edge that Perricone is known for. The finish is exceptionally long. It’s drinkable now, especially with food, but would definitely improve with a few more years of aging.