Nerojbleo - 2009
Gulfi
Nerojbleo is 100% Nero d'Avola from different vineyards in the countryside of Chiaramonte Gulfi and Ragoleti (Ragusa province, just like the famous city of Vittoria). The grape is named after Avola, a small town near Pachino in the province of Siracusa (near Ragusa). Fruits are fermented with long maceration on their skins. The wine is aged in barriques and tonneaux of French oak (225L and 500L) for 12 months.
Ratings
This Nerojbleo is in good age and shape. A charming bouquet of blueberry and cherry jam, prune, chocolate, old leather, tobacco, vanilla and oak. Aye, it has more residual sugar than I would love it to have. But it's well-balanced with mature tannin, round structure and pleasantly long aftertaste. Nice bottle. Shame it's the last one in my possession.
Oh my, what a bottle. It's lovely to see how Nero d'Avola matures into perfectly balanced, silky yet strong wine. Lots of dried fruits, jam, white pepper, hints of underbrush. Warm sensation and very long finish. I have to admit for the second time - definitely my wine.
Not overly complex, but thanks to the age (11 years) it become more round, balanced, and silky. Though it still has potential. It is still fruity, but fruits has dried. Long finish. Great tannins. Gulped (or should I say gulfed?) whole bottle! Definitely my type of wine.
Gulfi
The fact that my relations with Sicilian wines are special might be something obvious. But not many people know that it all started with Gulfi stand at the very first Kyiv Wine festival. When we met, I was already tired (e.g. drunk). I almost passed by, disgusted by my own weakness, when a Gulfi representative (apologies, I don't remember her name) stopped me and offered a glass of their wine. I looked at the representative welcoming face. I looked at the naked ass on the label. And I realised there are no reasons to reject this present from Dionysus. And even though I don't remember which wines I tasted exactly, the Gulfi imprint is what I took out of that overly drunk day.
It is worth mentioning that the naked ass on the label has a meaning. A meaning close enough to what one might think. Meet an ancient mosaic from Villa Romana del Casale located in Piazza Armerina in the province of Enna. This mosaic depicts Eros (Cupid) and Psyche (Beauty). According to the story, out of envy of Venus, they are forced to love each other in secret. But passion rarely goes unnoticed, and in their case, it found a physical manifestation (no puns) in the form of a daughter (no puns, seriously) they called Vulptas (literally meaning 'pleasure'), a goddess of sensual pleasures. And how does it connect to Gulfi? Sicily is Psyche, Gulfi is Eros, and their child is wine, a sensual pleasure.