Epicuro Nero d’Avola – Simple, Tart and Tasty

Another slightly sweet and tasty find from Trader Joe’s for just $5.99, we review the latest vintage of the Epicuro Nero d’Avola from Sicily, Italy.

Nero d’Avola from Sicily, Italy. The wine is fermented and matured in stainless steel and has 13.7 g/L of residual sugar.

The Epicuro Nero d’Avola from Femar Vini is available exclusively at Trader Joe’s and sells for just $5.99. It is imported by D’Aquino Italian Importing Company.

From the bottle:

Made only from Nero d’Avola grapes, this is a great wine with a beautiful rich, bright garnet colour and full bouquet redolent of berries, cherries and spices. The flavour is clear-cut, full-bodied and elegant. Perfect with grilled red meats and game. Serve at 18°C.

12.5% Alcohol

The 2022 Epicuro Nero d’Avola begins with an aroma of mostly red berry and cherry cough drop fruit on the nose along with touches of licorice and spice.

The medium-bodied wine tastes simple, tart, tasty and definitely a bit sweet. This is a solid example of a Nero d’Avola at a great price. While it definitely lacks the complexity of many others, it’s also only $6. It features similar fruit to the nose and while there’s not much else there besides the fruit, it is flavorful and satisfying.

It ends with a mostly dry, medium long, satisfying finish. OK to sip by itself, this wine is crying out for red sauces. It wasn’t quite as good on day 2.

This is one of several Epicuro wines available at TJ’s including the Epicuro Primitivo and the Epicuro Aglianico. And while none of these score very high on our Taste rating, they don’t have to thanks to their extremely low price! (Read more about our unique rating system that takes into account the price of the wine.)

As always you can find an updated list of our recommended wines from Trader Joe’s as well as more info on their pricing model and some tips and tricks for shopping the store in our giant guide.

You can also find more of our favorite Italian wines here!