Cépage: Nerello Mascalese, with a bit of Nerello Cappuccio and Alicante (Grenache)
Vineyard: Don Alfio in Contrada Filici (900+ meters altitude), and 3 parcels in Contrada Montelaguardia (800 meters altitude)
Soil composition: Dark brown basalt, crumbled and sandy in Vigna Don Alfio; more stoney in the Contrada Montelaguardia.
Average Age of Vines: 80-110 years old in Don Alfio, around 80 years old in Contrada Montelaguardia
ABV: 13.50 %
Sulfur addition: none added

Eric Narioo became enamored with qvevri-winemaking during a visit to Georgia in 2012. The qvevris at Vino di Anna are handmade and come from one of the last few remaining artisanal qvevri makers, Zaaliko Bodjadze, based in Imereti. He works with pure clay sourced from high up in the Caucasus Mountains and is a true expert in his craft.
The grapes come partly from Don Alfio parcel in Contrada Filici, and from 3 other parcels in Contrada Montelaguardia, near the town of Randazzo.
The harvest in Montelaguardia took place at the beginning of October and in mid-October in Don Alfio (because of the higher altitude). All the grapes were destemmed by hand into two the qvevris and were left to macerate for an extended period of 6 weeks. Once pressed and blended, the new wine remained on light lees in qvevri, before maturing for 6 months in an old wooden cask.
This wine has attractive, slightly stewed aromas of wild plums, black cherries, and white flowers, coupled with underlying spice and minerality. The wine is quite austere in its youth, with its high acidity and fine tannic profile. It is a complex wine, that will truly express its provenance with bottle aging.