Alessandro di Camporeale, Sicilia DOC (Sicily, Italy) Syrah 2017

 I was floored by this wine from the 2016 vintage when tasting it in Sicily in May of 2019, and though this vintage is different in style, it is every bit as good, and even richer and sexier for near-term drinking.  2017 was a hot year in this part of Sicily (not all of which is as hot as one would imagine, based on latitude), and this shows a ripe, muscular profile as a result, but is still admirably fresh and balanced.  The bouquet isn’t notably floral (as cool climate Syrah can be), but shows fruit notes up top, including a mélange of blue, black and red notes that make for a quite compelling combination.  Rich and rounded in feel but not heavy, with quite subdued woodspice aromas and flavors and no overt wood tannins in the finish, it packs a subtle punch in which both the adjective and the verb deserve equal emphasis.  It tips a bit toward the Old World style of this variety more than toward Washington or California, and likewise a bit more toward Victoria than Barossa or McLaren Vale in Aussie context, but if I were pressed to pinpoint an analogy at this juncture in its development, I would choose Hermitage from the 2011 vintage at three years since the harvest.  Let’s leave it at that.