Siciliana Nero d'Avola 2013

We were recently delighted to be contacted by Colorado's Curious Cork Imports. They graciously offered to send some wines from their portfolio for our review. The wines they sent are available via Wine.com, which means they are available just about everywhere in the US. It can certainly be frustrating to hear great things about an imported wine only to be unable to find it anywhere. In this post we'll discuss the Nero d'Avola from Siciliana. Stay tuned for a post on three wines from Carlin de Paolo, in the Piedmont.

A lovely fall bottle on a lovely fall day

The Siciliana 2013 Nero d'Avola sells for $12.99 on Wine.com. The grape variety, Nero d'Avola, has been growing in prominence of late, and for good reason. It is a grape that can thrive in the Sicilian heat while still producing wines of great color and structure. It is usually quite affordable as well. Pretty hard to beat.

Long term readers of this blog will recognize Nero d'Avola as a grape that I have championed for California. I believe that it would tolerate the heat and dry conditions of California's Central Valley and produce much better wine than most of the more popular varieties grown there now. Merlot, for instance, can produce outstanding wines, but not when it is grown in a very hot, very dry climate.

In the expensive-but-worth-every-penny Wine Grapes (Robinson, Harding, Vouillamoz, eds., Ecco) Nero d'Avola is said to most likely hail from... you guessed it, Avola, in the Siracusa province on Sicily. They say that it is Sicily's most planted variety and that the wines are known for color, fullness of body, and the ability to age. "At its best, Nero d'Avola produces wines that have a wild plum and sweet chocolate character, high levels of tannins, and decent acidity" (p 724).

So if you have not yet tried a Nero d'Avola, we strongly encourage you to seek one out. And why not this one? It is a classic example. We found it to be bright ruby in the glass and quite aromatic. The wine comes across as somewhat one-dimensional on the palate but 6 months to a year more in bottle should give it time to open up. It is tightly wound with bright acidity and soft tannins. This wine would be a perfect accompaniment to tomato-based foods such as pizza or pasta, or with rich foods such as salumi or other cured meats.

If you do try it, we would love to know what you think.

Why good California wine is so darn expensive

We read a piece on the Tablas Creek blog* today that is too good not to share. The piece explains in thorough detail why Tablas Creek elected not to buy a potential vineyard site to expand production of their $25/bottle Cotes de Tablas line. The short answer is that the land was too expensive. In getting to that conclusion Jason Haas delineates financing costs, farming costs, winemaking costs, and the cost of just about everything that goes into that bottle of wine. It's difficult to see how anyone could produce a good wine from a coastal vineyard for less than $25.

Haas allows "that as long as winemakers can find older vineyards of less-fashionable varietals, we'll see growth" in the $10-$20 range, but scavenging thus is hardly sustainable. Such scavenging is pretty much PWR's business plan, and given our size and the economic malaise in the wine industry, we expect to have no trouble sourcing good grapes over the next few years, but we certainly won't be planting a vineyard any time soon.

What's the solution? We are not sure there is one. As Haas eloquently states, there are too many demands on land suitable for planting coastal vineyards to expect land prices to fall significantly. The California coast simply is not suited to produce great wines at low prices, at least not on a large scale.

The solution may lie inward, however. California's Great Central Valley, which runs from Redding in the north to Bakersfield in the south, produces much of the nation's produce and is no stranger to the grapevine. Most of the viticulture is focused in the Souther San Joaquin Valley--roughly from Fresno to the South--where the winegrapes planted among the Thompson seedless raisin grapes are hardly renowned for their quality.

The Southern San Joaquin (SSJ) is hot and nearly water-less, with sandy and somewhat saline soils. This is no region for Chardonnay or Cabernet, let alone Pinot Noir (although acres of each variety are planted there, with disastrous results). But we believe the region could be just fine for varieties suited to such a climate. Varieties from regions such as Greece (Xinomavro, anyone?), Sicily (Nero D'Avola) or Spain (Garnacha/Grenache), for instance.

Housing pressures are great even in the SSJ, but land is still much cheaper than in coastal regions. It's also less expensive to farm. Now we just need to find a grower willing to take the plunge!**

* The Tablas Creek blog is well worth reading for many reasons. Today's piece illustrates the best of them--Jason Haas is open and honest in his discussions. The blog does not read like PR fluff. We love Tablas Creek wines. While not exactly inexpensive, they represent excellent quality at their prices, and are easily the match of wines costing many times as much.

** One reason growers are reluctant to plant varieties that may be better suited to their climate is the perception that consumers won't buy a wine that does not bear a familiar varietal name on it. Given the difficulties *everyone* is facing selling Syrah these days, the growers are probably correct. But would you rather have an eye-poppingly good Mavrodaphne or a dreary, flabby raisin-y Cabernet? Good. Now go tell 100 of your friends.