Precious Little Marananga Nero d’Avola 2019

The well-known Sicilian red grape variety has found a perfect second home in the Barossa Valley sub-region of Marananga, loving the warm and dry climactic conditions that will only get hotter and drier as the vintages go by.

Deep ruby in colour, this wine is bright and perfumed with intense ripe red fruits on the nose, with intermingling notes of dusty road and rolling tobacco, liquorice and the dried petals of pot pourri, and with French oak evidenced by aromatic clove spice. On the palate it’s fruit-forward, opulent and intense, bursting with raspberries and cranberries, but made complex by those savoury liquorice notes and then ultimately framed by firm tannins. An excellent Aussie version at a great price. One you’d be crazy not to drink with a leg of roast lamb rubbed in olive oil and mustard and studded with rosemary and garlic (and really specifically the little nubby shank part at the end that you can nick the meat off before anyone sees). 13.5%.

Melissa Moore

Melissa began her hospitality career in London working for the Rolling Stones, returning to Australia at the dawn of the wine bar explosion in Melbourne to develop a deep love of wine, restaurants, beaches and much warmer weather. She has judged at several national and local wine shows including The Royal Sydney Show, the NSW Wine Awards and The Alternative Varieties Wine Show, and contributed to the Sydney Morning Herald with wine selection articles. Melissa was selected to be a scholar of the Len Evans’ Tutorial and was dux of the 2019 New Zealand Family of Twelve Tutorial. She was previously Head Sommelier at Merivale and is now Beverage and Operations Manager for the Love Tilly Group. She lives in Sydney with her family.