Drinks of the Month

Nero Oro Grillo Appassimento

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on February 20 2021 at 08:41

Appassimento - letting wine ferment on semi-dried grapes - is a technique normally used to give extra sweetness and richness to red wines but it has been used in this highly unusual Sicilian white called Nero Oro (which means black gold)

It’s made from the local grape grillo and is deliciously peachy, not totally dry but not as sweet as a dessert wine with a refreshing acidity that stops it being overly cloying. Not the sort of wine I’d drink with seafood or pasta but it would be great with anything that combines sweet and savoury flavours - especially the kind of hot and sweet dishes you find in Thai, Burmese and Sichuan cuisine. Think Thai fishcakes with sweet chilli sauce for example. I reckon it would also work with a lamb and apricot or quince tagine, a pastilla and middle-eastern dishes with a touch of sweetness too. Maybe a roast butternut squash salad or some roasted root veggies. It's 13.5% so can stand up to some big flavours.

You can buy it from Majestic for £8.99 on a mix six deal. Definitely one to try if you're in there.

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