Vino Siciliano

Sicilian wines used to be shipped north in huge tanks to be used as blending (or "cutting") wines by producers of bottles with very famous labels. Recently Sicilian producers have decided to bottle their own wines on the island. Famous labels like Morgante, Donnafugata and Tasca d'Almerita are now seen in wine shops worldwide and command hefty prices. But many Italians don't spend the money on bottled wines with corks - instead they buy bulk wine. One may instantly think low-quality, and there are plenty of those sold in boxes in the grocery stores, or in large glass jugs, but good-quality vino can also be had for not-so-much money as in the example shown here. This Nero d'Avola is (to us) as good or better than any low-cost bottled version we've found in the USA. This 2-liter jug set us back just 4 euros so even with a not-so-good exchange rate we're talking $3 for a liter of good-quality vino! Today we visited a "vino sfuso" shop where they fill your containers directly from their barrels. Their Nero d'Avola was the same price as the one in the photo so we bought a jug for a taste-off!