2021 Tenuta Rapitala Nero d'Avola Alto Reale
Regular price $15.98
Nero d’Avola gives this wine a red passion color, hints of ripe fruit and an intense and harmonious taste. Immediate and direct but not trivial, it differs in the altitude at which its grapes are grown, which allows for a fresher wine, with delicate tannins and easy to drink style. Aromas of baked plum, black cherry and black tea. Medium-to full-bodied with chalky tannins. Pleasantly ripe and juicy on the palate. Nice balance here, with a tasty finish. From organically grown grapes.
This single vineyard wine is an elegant expression of Sicily’s most important grape, Nero d'Avola.
Alto Reale is sourced from a single high altitude vineyard on a 12 acre parcel of Rapitalà’s 500+ acres estate. The vineyard lies between at a high elevation of 1,300 to 1,700 feet and is planted to 10 year old cordon-spur trained Nero d’Avola vines. The terrain is dry and steep forcing the vines to dig deep into the barren soil. This high-altitude location sees significant diurnal changes in temperature, allowing for greater aromatic complexity and the development of a strong acidic backbone in the final wine.
Made with organic grapes. Fruit is hand harvested and brought to the cellars in small crates to avoid disturbing the ripe grapes. The grapes are cooled at the winery right at the foot of the vineyards. The must is macerated and vinified with pump-overs in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Following racking the young wine is transferred into third use or older French oak barriques where it will rest for five months before another racking and an additional 7 months in larger 50 hl oak barrels. The goal is a slow and delicate aging that stabilizes tannins and polyphenols.
Shipping Policy
- Unless your delivery address is on the West Coast, we strongly discourage you from selecting “Ground Service” as your shipping method. During the winter and summer months, weather conditions (temperature) and longer delivery times can often result in the spoilage of your order. It doesn’t make sense to invest in fine wines and then take the chance of ruining them due environmental factors during transit (faster and safer delivery generally isn’t much more expensive). We don’t make an additional profit on accelerated delivery, but we frequently recommend faster shipping options to our customers outside the West Coast.
- You must be 21 years of age to order or receive alcoholic beverages. Any shipments containing alcoholic beverages are sent with an “Adult Signature Required” sticker, and the common carrier that delivers our merchandise is required to ask and check for identification upon delivery. This means that an adult will have to be present at the time of delivery. Please consider shipping to an office address.
- During periods of extreme weather, we attempt to ship wines at the beginning of each week in order to get shipments to you before the weekend. This is because we have no control over the temperature conditions at our freight carriers’ warehouses. The result may be that your shipment doesn’t go out the day that you place an order.
- We ship by Fedex or Fedex Ground. Our prices include packaging materials. Insurance may be available for an additional charge.
- Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. will arrange for shipment on behalf of the buyer, to an address specified by the buyer, provided that Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. in its sole judgment believes that such shipment will not subject Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. to the risk of any sort of legal action or other harm. If a buyer lives in a state where the direct shipment of wine by Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. violates the law, we suggest that the buyer provide an alternative address in another state or have their wine shipped to a third-party storage facility in a direct shipping-friendly state.
- Various states impose limitations on the quantity of alcoholic beverages that may be purchased and brought into their jurisdiction by a purchaser from another state without requiring the purchaser, a seller or shipper to possess certain licenses or permits. Vintage Wine Merchants, Inc. does not, as a condition of sale, assume any obligation nor bear any responsibility whatsoever for applying or obtaining any permits or licenses. Therefore, we recommend that you investigate the possibility of such limitations, and determine the manner in which alcoholic beverages shall be brought into your state from California, so as to comply with all of your state’s requirements.
- Wine shipping rules in the United States are controlled by the state you live in. We do not ship wine to the following states at this time:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Delaware
Kansas - Kentucky
Louisiana - Maine
Maryland - Massachusetts
Michigan - Mississippi
Montana - Nevada
New York - North Dakota
Oklahoma - Pennsylvania
Rhode Island - South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
List Updated 2/1/2023
Please inquire about international shipping.
Vintage Wine Merchants
377 Santana Row, Suite 1135
San Jose, CA 95128
408-260-1115
