ROB’S WINE
Lunaria means "of the moon." Sergio named it for the sulfur miners who worked these hills - men who descended into darkness before dawn and emerged after dusk, the moon their only constant companion. They looked up to it for guidance, encouragement, consolation. This wine does the same thing.
Most white wines either smack you in the face with acid and citrus, or they fade into the background like wallpaper. Lunaria refuses to choose. It's got the brightness - lemon, peach, white flowers, that mineral limestone backbone that screams "I'm from somewhere specific." But it's also got weight. Body. The kind of presence that doesn't back down when you put food in front of it.
This isn't a white wine that's going to politely step aside and let your risotto have the spotlight. It's joining right in. Oysters, soft cheese, swordfish, grilled vegetables, pasta that needs a partner - this is your wine.
If you like Sancerre but wish it had more to say, or if you're tired of Gewurztraminer's perfume shop routine, try this. It's what happens when you give Catarratto to someone who actually gives a damn.
100% Catarratto | 2024 vintage | Casteltermini, Sicily
This isn't your grandmother's Nero d'Avola. Actually, it kind of is - if your grandmother grew up in the sulfur mines of central Sicily, watching rock salt sparkle under the sun like something precious.
Sergio named this wine Salgemma - rock salt - because that's what glints in the chalky mountainside where these vines dig in at 540-600 meters above sea level. Most Nero d'Avola comes from Mt. Etna, where the grape does what it's famous for: bold, smokey, tannic, cherries so dark they're almost black. Sergio's version says "screw that."
This is Nero gone bright and mineral. Light on its feet. Cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, flowers you didn't know existed. There's still that backbone of blackberry and earth - a reminder of what this grape is capable of - but it's wrapped in something electric, something that tastes like the mountain it came from.
If you've been looking for an everyday Burgundy replacement, you just found it. Pair it like you would a good Pinot: cheese, cured meats, pasta, eggplant, anything with mushrooms. Or just drink it because it's Tuesday and you're tired of ordinary wine.
100% Nero d'Avola | 2023 vintage | Casteltermini, Sicily