Borgo Selene Nero d’Avola Nerello Mascalese 2025
£10.25
The wine
Named for Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon, Borgo Selene celebrates the ancient Greek roots of Sicilian wine. Acclaimed winemaker Alberto Antonini blends the island's native grapes at the Curatolo Arini family winery.
Nero d'Avola brings dark berry richness and Nerello Mascalese a fragrant, savoury lift, together offering surprising depth for the price. Supple and warm, it suits pasta al pomodoro, grilled meats and hard Italian cheeses.
The producer
Borgo Selene
View all Borgo Selene winesBorgo Selene takes its name from Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon, honouring the ancient Greeks who first brought the vine to Sicily, the Mediterranean's largest island. The wines are made and blended by the consultant winemaker Alberto Antonini at the Curatolo Arini family winery near Marsala.
Antonini is among the most widely travelled consultants in the wine world, with a particular reputation for coaxing freshness out of hot places, and that is the balancing act these wines perform. Sicily is closer to Tunis than to Milan, but it is also mountainous, and altitude does far more for acidity here than latitude ever could.
The blends draw on the island's own varieties rather than imported ones. Catarratto is Sicily's most planted white grape, long used for Marsala and only recently taken seriously as a still wine, while Inzolia brings a nutty, softer note. On the red side Nero d'Avola gives dark fruit and body, and Nerello Mascalese, the Etna grape, contributes the pale colour, high acidity and fine tannin that keep the blend lifted rather than heavy.
