Feudo Montoni

9/19/11 -

Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted grape on Sicily, and its increasing popularity means that it’s now grown all over the island, even in the western provinces of Marsala and Trapani, which were once exclusively places for white wine. With one exception, the best Nero d’Avola we’ve tasted comes from the southeast part of the island - Pachino, Ragusa, Vittoria; the Nero d’Avola from other places is really not distinguished (or it’s oaked and/or manipulated to death).

The exception is the Nero d’Avola from Feudo Montoni, an old family estate from the center of the island. The photo above shows a view from the highest point of the property; this is the region that was once “the granary of the Roman Empire” – fertile and covered in wheat. The photo does no justice to the landscape, which is really magnificent in person. Over the hill to the east is Tasca d’Almerita, still an important wine producer and one of the last intact feudal estates in Sicily – think of “The Leopard” and you get the idea.

We may think of Sicily as being very hot – anyone who’s traipsed around acres of ancient rubble there in the summer would not dispute that impression – but it also snows at Montoni, the vines are high enough in elevation (650+ meters, supposedly the highest elevation plantings of Nero d'Avola) to moderate the hottest weather, and there is a steady prevailing wind from the sea to the north. The Montoni vineyards (first recorded as planted in the 1500’s) make an island of vines in a sea of wheat, grass, and sheep. Phylloxera never reached Montoni, and they have always re-planted using their own vines, and so claim their own particular clone of Nero d’Avola. Chemical treatments and fertilizers have never been used on the vines, and the winemaking is equally old-fashioned.

What matters most is in the bottle – wine of place, showing real finesse and distinction.