2021 Peri Peri 'Tinuzzo' Nerello Mascalese Terre Siciliane IGT

If you love Pinot Noir's perfume and lift but want something with a little more Mediterranean sun in the glass, this is your wine. Nerello Mascalese is Sicily's answer to Pinot Noir — silky, aromatic, and built around finesse rather than power — and Peri Peri makes one of the most distinctive expressions you'll find at this price.

What sets this bottle apart is where it's grown. Most Nerello Mascalese comes from the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna on Sicily's eastern coast. Peri Peri is the opposite — a small estate in Sciacca, on the southwestern coast, just a few kilometers from the Mediterranean. The vineyards sit on reddish alluvial soils, cooled year-round by sea breezes, which gives the wine a fresher, more coastal character than the smoky, mineral Etna style.

The De Cerchio family (fourth-generation winegrowers behind Torre Zambra in Abruzzo) farms the entire estate organically. Vegan-certified, Equalitas-certified for sustainability, and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts — this is a wine made the way wines used to be made, with nothing added that doesn't belong. After harvest in late October, the grapes get a long 30-day maceration on the skins, then age six months in French and Slavonian oak tonneaux followed by four months in bottle before release.

The name Tinuzzo is a tribute to the family's first farm manager — an honest, terroir-driven wine made by people who care more about authenticity than fashion.