I Mori Nero d’Avola

I Mori or “Teste di Moro” are traditional, colourful Sicilian handmade ceramic vases often displayed on balconies. How lovely! And then we found out the true story behind it all – yikes!

In the 11th century a young Sicilian girl (known as Kalsa) was often seen on her balcony caring for her plants and flowers. A young man passing by liked what he saw, declared his love for her and the two love birds settled down ever after. That was until Kalsa realised the guy had a wife and kids at home – uh-oh. So what did she do? She waited until night fall and chopped his head off! She placed it on her balcony so that her lover would be with her forever. Totally normal behaviour.

If you’re in the game for some great value Italian red then keep your head screwed on (unlike the bloke above!) and grab yourself a bottle or two of I Mori Nero d’Avola.

Nero D’Avola is the most planted variety on the island of Sicily off the coast of mainland Italy. Nero is best known for being a bold, fruit driven style red with typical flavours of black cherries, plums, licorice and spice! They’re also incredible value for money and a bit under rated in our opinion!

Scoring 89/100 with Master of Wine Bob Campbell who called it “A fresh, fruity New World style with bright fruit and spicy oak flavours. Plum, chocolate/mocha, vanilla and red berry characters. Good value at this price.”

This is a style you’ll happily glug with or without food, if you do want to bust it out at the dinner table try it with grilled meats, antipasto and cheeses.bee