2021 Nero d’Avola Lagnusa

I’ve come to love Feudo Montoni’s portfolio for its extremely high-quality standards, married with value and, most importantly, ability to provide sheer pleasure. While wine lovers tend to gravitate to the Prephylloxera vines that produce the Nero d'Avola Vrucara, both the reds and whites of this house excel. The varietal Perricone, Inzolia, Catarratto, Grillo and even Nerello Mascalese have much to offer. This year's tasting provided interesting insights into the 2021 vintage and Feudo Montoni’s unique position in Sicily. The organic farm is located in the heart of Sicily between two mountain ranges, the Madonie Mountains (1,979 meters) and Monte Cammarata (1,578 meters). This area is known for its larger amounts of precipitation, ventilating winds and drastic diurnal shifts, which aided the winery in achieving balance in the arid and hot 2021 vintage. Granted, emergency irrigation is in place if necessary and was used sporadically between July and August when late-season rains arrived. Otherwise, the team relied on soil management to maintain humidity underground. Unlike most producers I spoke with, their budding and flowering were on time, and although they thought an early harvest would be in order, the rain at the end of August extended the season. In many cases, they found themselves harvesting later than usual, with Perricone wrapping things up in the first week of November. If anything, the sweet wines were adversely affected and were picked before reaching physiological ripeness so they would have time to air-dry through September. Otherwise, the whites maintained fabulous acidity and a low pH, a rare but welcome treat for this part of Sicily. As for the reds, the extended hang time may have been a blessing due to the whole cluster fermentations practiced at Feudo Montoni and the ripeness of the stems.