Donnafugata : Mille e una Notte 2019

Hauntingly dark and spicy, the 2019 Mille e Una Notte opens with a burst of mentholated herbs, cloves, shaved cedar and crushed blackberries. It's seamlessly silky and elegant throughout. Textural waves of ripe red and black fruits ride a core of vibrant acidity, leaving balsam herbal tones, cocoa and fine-grained tannins in their wake. The 2019 finishes dramatically long and structured, with a twang of tart red plums and sage. This is a radiant yet powerful rendition of Mille e Una Notte, which will benefit from and demand cellaring.

It's hard not to love Mille e Una Notte. A blend of Nero d'Avola, Syrah and Petit Verdot matured in new barriques for 14 months and then in bottle for a further 24 months, it's very intense, very spicy and very fresh, full of fragrant spiced currants and blackberries with red fruit overtones. Silky, grippy tannins need more time to integrate, but they support the fruit well. The finish is long, breezy and balsamic.

The nose offers shades of black—from black cherries to blackberries to dark chocolate and black licorice, with pepper and mixed spices that become more powerful on the palate, thanks to a medicinal, astringent bite of roots and herbs outlined by austere, unforgiving tannins.