Situated at the southeastern tip of Sicily, in the Tellaro Valley, Dario Serrentino's vineyards are close enough to the ocean to mitigate the rather hot climate of this southern part of a already southern Mediterranean region (the same latitude as Tunis and Algiers).

Dario began as a farmer on his family's 25 hectares (15 under vine, the rest planted with olive and almond trees) and, after years of selling his grapes to other wineries, started making his own wine in 2014.

This frappato/nero d'Avola blend is similar to the well-known Cerasuolo di Vittoria  wine (Sicily's only DOCG), only here they're switched, with frappato the dominant varietal instead of nero d'Avola. Nero d'Avola is the more full-bodied, tannic grape, and here the focus is on the lighter, fruity-aromatic frappato, produced in an even lighter style in this region as a consequence of the slightly cooler temperatures (the vines are only 10min from the beach), and with a bit more tension and minerality, a result of the white limestone soils.

The traditional alberello (bush vine) training is used exclusively, in order to shade the grapes from the hot sun, allow for easier root-to-leaf water transfer, and keep the vines low enough to the ground to defend against the hot, dry winds from Africa that blow fiercely across this part of Sicily.

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The 2019 is light and bright, with bunches of juicy cranberry, strawberry and sour cherry up front, and loads of spice (clove and nutmeg) on the finish, especially once it opens up, along with some herbal notes. It's a young wine, so the bright acid and low tannins come through at first, along with a little spritz. A great "pizza wine", particularly anything with red sauce and of course pizza Siciliana (with anchovies!).