Feudo Montoni 'Rosé di Adele' Nerello Mascalese Terre Siciliane IGT 2024

In the late 1800s, Rosario Sireci was blessed with a discovery and acquisition - the Feudo Montoni estate that had been producing quality wines from ancient vines in the heart of Sicily since 1469. Currently overseen by Fabio Sireci, he follows the family tradition of practicing organic viticulture and works solely with indigenous grape varieties that have been growing for centuries on sand and clay-rich soils. Durum wheat fields have contributed to a “natural isolation” of the estate’s high-altitude vineyards from the surrounding landscape, creating an “island within an island” where the ancient grape varieties survive and thrive. ‘Rosé di Adele’ -  named after a rose garden that Fabio’s father, Elio, dedicated to his dear wife, Adele -  is the cru from which Fabio sources the grapes for this wine from 40-year old vines of nerello mascalese that have been grafted by hand onto wild plants. The juice is in contact with the skins in cryomaceration and then softly pressed, fermenting spontaneously with native yeasts in cement tanks. Ballet-slipper-pink in its hue, the wine marries the whimsical aroma of freshly crushed pink rose petals with a savory bite of prosciutto-wrapped melon. A supple white peach alongside a handful of freshly picked wild strawberries and a whisper of pink peppercorn offer playful freshness and a fruitful complexity that balances the nervy acidity and mild tannic snap that serve as the backbone of this wine’s structure. Drink on its own or pair with a bountiful bowl of pasta primavera or freshly-whipped ricotta on a thick slice of charred sourdough topped with grilled peaches and drizzled with clover honey and finished with chunky sea salt (and maybe a slice of prosciutto? maybe?). Organically grown, low-intervention/natural wine.