Gueli Erbatino Nero d'Avola 2015

Gueli Erbatino is 100% Nero d'Avola from the locality of Rametta in Grotte, province of Agrigento, grown on chalky white soils locally called Trubi or Erbatini — pale, talcum-like, low in stone, and high in minerals. The vineyard sits between 450 and 550 metres above sea level, planted in 2000 and trained on a Tendone pergola. This is the higher-elevation, gypsum-soil expression of Nero d'Avola, distinct from the limestone-clay soils used for Gueli's other cuvee, Calcareus.

Winemaking is hands-off and site-driven. Grapes are harvested manually at the end of September and fermented with native yeasts in open-top concrete tanks of 2,000kg capacity, with daily hand-stirring over a 40-day maceration. The wine then ages 24 to 30 months in 220-litre used oak barrels, followed by six months of bottle aging before release. Zero sulfites are added; total SO2 sits at just 6 to 15 mg/L. Unfiltered and unfined.

The nose opens with myrtle, balsamic herbs, thyme, sage, and mushroom. On the palate the wine is lush and textured with dark cherry fruit, grip from firm tannins, and a long, mineral finish. Compared to Calcareus, Erbatino is slightly fuller and more giving on the fruit, with grippier tannins and a marginally softer acid line — a character tied directly to its chalky, mineral-rich soil.

The wine falls under the Terre Siciliane IGT designation. The name Erbatino comes from the local dialect term for the gypsum-rich soils the vineyard occupies.