Stemmari Nero d'Avola

For those of you who follow my wine blog, you know my wine choices are influenced by recent travels or vacations to come.  Therefore, with day dreams of Southern Italy floating through my head I was inspired to buy the Stemmari Nero d'Avola.  The 2009 Stemmari Nero d'Avola IGT is from the Southern Italian island of Sicily which I hope to be visiting soon!  The Stemmari is a red wine made from Nero d'Avola grape, a native grape to Sicily.  This wine was sealed with an artificial cork and has a 13.5% alcohol level.  

The Stemmari Nero d'Avola is a rich garnet color.  On the nose are aromas of unripe blackberry, currant, anise, cranberry, crushed red berry, red plum, violet, dried earth, fall leafs, and fresh cut cedar.  On the palate are hints of unripe purple plum, cranberry, violet, forest floor, dried earth, red cherry, red licorice, and tart raspberry.  This wine finished dry with tons of acidity and tannin.  Overall, the perfect wine to inspire travels abroad.

The Stemmari Nero d'Avola would pair well with food items such as risotto, red sauce pasta dishes, ragu, venison, veal, lamb, pork, beef, and strong flavored cheese.