Alessandro di Camporeale, Sicilia Vigna Di Mandranova DOC (Sicily, Italy) Syrah 2016

 My notes from my estate visit during 2019 indicate that I wasn’t shown this wine, which makes no sense, as it is exceptional in quality and sells for nearly twice as much in Europe as the also excellent “Kaid” Syrah from this producer.  In any case, two bottles of the 2016 were shipped to me in late summer 2020.  One was corked but the other was beautiful.  I assume the proprietary name “MNRL” … with some spaces missing … is intended to convey “mineral” but isn’t written out due to concern about copyright litigation.  The wine is indeed mineral in character, but also fruity and savory and spicy with tasteful influence from oak, but the most important point is that all of these characteristics are basically perfect in their proportional presentation.  The overall quality of wines from this house is astonishing on both the white and red side, indicating extremely good growing conditions (inland, with a basically continental climate for Sicily, but up at altitude with significant diurnal swings in temperature) as well as very strong talent in the cellar.  The one good bottle of this I tasted is a threat to the world’s best renditions of Syrah, as it is quite intricate while also being obviously delicious.