Wine description	dark in color, big in fruit flavors, well-suited for oak and able to age for several years, although most are good drinking upon release.
Food pairing	Meatballs, roasted lamb, pasta with tomato base sauces
Origin	Sicily
Notable regions	Sicily
Notable wines	Planeta Santa Cecilia IGT Nero d’Avola

History

Sicily has been an important wine region for thousands of years. Sicily was a cultural cross-roads throughout most of European history, and has been controlled by the Greeks, the Romans the Byzantines, the Arabs, and the Catalans from Spain. Sicily is now Italy’s largest wine producing region.

"The Black Grape of Avola" appears to have been selected by growers near Avola (a small town in south east Sicily) several hundred years ago. Initially, it was confined to the southern tip of the island but more recently has spread throughout the island.

Viticulture

The vine likes hot arid climates. The districts around Noto (above all Buonivini, Bufalefi and Maccari) and Pachino in the south of the province of Siracusa are reputed for the quality of their Nero d'Avola grapes.^[3]

See Also:

Home Wine Page
History of Wine
Classification of Wines
Science of Taste
The Science of Wine Aroma
About the Acids in Wine
Polyphenols (Tannins) in Wine
Oak in Wines
The Basic Wine Pairing Rules
Science of Food and Wine Pairing
Sugars in Wine
About Wine Tasting
Wine Tasting Terms
Storage of Wine
Aging of Wine
Wine Acessories
Headaches from Wine
About a Wine Sommelier

References