Tasca Regaleali Nero d’Avola, Sicily, Italy

The large Regaleali estate, high in the central Sicilian hills, has been in the hands of the noble Tasca family since 1830. Ever since, the property has been run according to the best principles of the agricultural aristocracy: with one eye firmly on quality, and the other on experimentation.

Tasca’s large range is the product of the family’s most successful innovations, including short pruning for lower yields, the championing of local Inzolia and Nero d’Avola vines, the introduction of French varieties, and the use of barrique and temperature control. Even now, forty grape varieties from all over Europe are planted just for experimental purposes, with the possibility of making the grade in the future. However, there is already plenty on offer in this singularly accomplished range of Sicilian wines.

This wine is produced from selected Nero d’Avola vineyards in the heart of the island, using restricted yields for extra concentration.

The wine underwent a traditional fermentation in stainless steel tanks at 26-28oC, with ten days’ maceration. The wine was aged for six months, fifty percent in stainless steel tanks, the remainder in Slavonian oak barrels of thirty and sixty hectolitres.