Susumaniello 'Sciù' Castello Monaci 2024
'Sciù' by Castello Monaci is a single-varietal wine made from Susumaniello grapes, elegant and structured, with firm tannins and a perfect balance between freshness and intensity. This wine, with its intense red color, ages for 6 months in oak wood and presents fragrant aromas of red fruits, accentuated balsamic notes, hints of Mediterranean aromatic herbs and a slightly spicy aftertaste. We recommend pairing it with grilled red meats, game and well-aged cheeses.
The Susumaniello 'Sciù' from the Salento estate Castello Monaci is an intense yet balanced red wine that reflects the typical characteristics of Puglian wines. Susumaniello is a black grape variety native to the Salice Salentino area, in the province of Lecce, which has recently been almost rediscovered and enhanced by wine-producing realities like Castello Monaci. It seems that the name Susumaniello derives from "somarello", a diminutive term for the donkey, an animal that was historically used to work the land. Instead, the appellation 'Sciù' originates from the word in the Lecce dialect used to refer to the yoke of the plow.
The 'Sciù' Castello Monaci Susumaniello is an expression of the eponymous black variety cultivated in the Salice Salentino area. The harvest is usually done by machine during the second decade of September, particularly in the early hours of the morning to avoid working with overheated grapes. This is followed by the crushing of the bunches in stainless steel tanks where the conducts alcoholic fermentation at controlled temperature with about 15 days of contact between the must and the skins. Subsequently, the mass is transferred to French oak barriques for a maturation of 6 months that precedes bottling and final commercialization.
The 'Susumaniello' Castello Monaci 'Sciù' has an intense ruby red color. The olfactory range offers clear notes of blackberry, ripe red fruits, and Mediterranean herbs that blend with balsamic notes and slight vanilla hints given by the passage in oak. On the palate, it shows balance and good elegance, as well as a rather important structure, enhanced by pleasant freshness, firm tannins, and excellent sapidity. The sip concludes with fruity and spicy sensations of excellent taste-olfactory correspondence.