Wines

Aldo's pure Catarratto “pét-nat” comes from his iron-rich limestone slopes in northwest Sicily, crown-capped toward the end of its initial fermentation (spontaneous, of course) with no additions whatsoever. The resulting brew offers striking varietal purity, showcasing Catarratto’s apricot-and-peach lusciousness with an alluring smoky undercurrent. “Brutto” is controlled and balanced without being polite, and it’s of a piece with his still wines in its combination of effortless complexity and arresting purity of fruit. Bubbles are controlled rather than foamy, and it has great persistence for such a straightforwardly produced wine. There are but 150 cases for the United States to be had of this vivacious sparkler!

Aldo’s namesake wine blends 3 white varieties, each with varying durations of skin contact: 45% Catarratto (3 days), 45% Grillo (4 weeks) and 10% Grecanico (pressed immediately), bottled with a trace of sulfur after 18 months in stainless steel. The vines grow on Alcamo’s Timpi Rossi (“Red Hills”) in iron-rich sandy clay soils at altitudes up to 1,000 meters. “Biancoviola” displays its macerated nature delicately, in a textural rather than overtly tannic dimension. A nose of ripe apricots and small-petaled flowers leaps from the glass, and the wine enters the palate broadly and with ripe, tangy acidity. Flavors of green apples, anise and cinnamon stick slather the palate, finishing long and clean, with lingering salinity.

“Krimiso” refers to a river in western Sicily and to its corresponding deity, believed to guard wisdom in ancient Greek times. 100% Catarratto, it is harvested and placed whole-cluster into stainless steel where it spends 8 months macerating with occasional pump-overs but is never pressed. The wine is bottled directly from tank with no added sulfur. “Krimiso” leads with an enveloping nose of ripe orchard fruits and licorice, with tropical fruit at the fringes. The extraordinarily fine tannins here speak to Aldo’s lack of manipulation during the long and gentle maceration. The fruit is fuzzy, not glossy—soft analog rather than crisp digital—with an underpinning of botanicals and earthy spice, and a prolonged decrescendo of a finish.

“Egesta” is the old Hellenic name for an area of western Sicily close to Aldo’s vineyards, as well as the name of a local stream and its corresponding ancient water deity. Made from pure Grillo, this wine spends 8 months macerating on its skins in stainless steel without pressing and with occasional pump-overs, bottled straight from tank without any added sulfur. “Egesta”offers a panoramic nose of fresh almonds and subtle woodsy spice leading to a palate of remarkable balance, with subdued orchard fruits anchoring the slowly undulating waves of flavor. This wine offers stunning clarity and depth, particularly given the extreme length of its maceration, and it clings to the palate with both authority and gracefulness.

“Shiva” is named in homage to Hinduism’s supreme being—the great god of destruction and rebirth. Aldo Viola only makes it when the vintage inspires him, and there's no rule as to what variety it will comprise or how it will be made; thus, just as the god can assume multiple forms, so can the wine. Late-harvested from Aldo's oldest Catarratto vines, it is macerated for several weeks on its skins, then pressed and aged 1 year in French oak barrels. 30% of the harvest is dried before fermentation, lending it a walloping concentration of fruit. This maelstrom of a wine encompasses a multitude of aromas and flavors, from soaring spices to dried herbs to fruit leather to beef stock, and the palate displays unabashed intensity.

The vines for Aldo’s red wines grow 30 kilometers from his home village of Alcamo, in a dry, hot microclimate not dissimilar to that of northern Africa, buffeted by the same scorching sirocco winds. “Saignée” blends roughly equal parts Nerello Mascalese, Perricone, and Syrah—which thrives in this zone’s parched heat as it does in Morocco’s. Aldo ferments it in steel with a week-long maceration, then ages it for a year in large Slavonian oak casks, bottling it with a miniscule dose of sulfur. The wine is ripe but controlled, with tenderly rendered bright red fruits complicated by a fascinating umami note not unlike that of high-quality tomato paste. Appropriately southern in its sun-drenched persona, this wine is nonetheless sprightly and highly drinkable.

“Moretto” is Aldo's longer-macerated red blend, comprised of 50% Nerello Mascalese and 40% Perricone from younger vineyards, and 10% Syrah from ancient bush vines. The three varieties are fermented separately with native yeasts, with the Syrah seeing the longest contact with the skin. Then 50% ages in stainless steel tanks and the other 50% in small used wooden barrels for 6 months. The wine is not filtered and only a small amount of sulfur dioxide is used. Medium-bodied and easy to drink, with red fruits, aromatic herbs and marine notes; on the palate it is juicy, rich and fresh, with true Mediterranean character.