Unless you just joined SommSelect today, you know how this works: Whether the wine we’re offering costs $20 or $200, we’re going deep on the details. With today’s red from Cantina Horus, however, I didn’t just go deep—I practically drowned. It started, as these things always do, at the tasting table, where this bright, floral, silky blend of Nero d’Avola, Frappato, and Syrah had us all entranced.

Then it went into overdrive when I learned where it got its name. “La Corda Pazza” was the title of a book published in 1970 by Leonardo Sciascia, a Sicilian by birth who was an influential critic, public intellectual, and playwright. It is an in-depth exploration of Sicily's unique history and culture, one made more exceptional (and insular) due to its island geography—a “crazy chord,” or corda pazza, of influences exerted by generations of invaders and colonizers. What the wine version of La Corda Pazza is meant to express is a proud, inimitable Sicilian-ness, or what Sciascia called Sicilitudine. So, that’s our word of the day, friends: Sicilitudine (see-chee-lee-TU-dee-nay). It means Sicilian first, Italian second, and, despite the presence of Syrah in the blend, “international” a very distant third. It’s a wine that, like the essay it’s named for, dives deep into what it means to be Sicilian. Its energy and scale may surprise you; its aromatic complexity will intrigue you; and its price, given all that’s going on here, will delight you. For me, it’s a new benchmark from one of the most dynamic wine regions in the world right now, and must not be missed!

Cantina Horus expresses its Sicilitudine first and foremost through Cerasuolo di Vittoria, which is, famously, the only DOCG-level appellation wine made in Sicily. Located south of Mount Etna in the province of Ragusa, this is the appellation everyone was talking about before Etnean wines became the hot properties, thanks to producers such as COS, Arianna Occhipinti, Gulfi, and Valle dell’Acate. The Horus property spans roughly 30 hectares of vineyards in and around the village of Acate, right in the heart of the Cerasuolo di Vittoria appellation area, where the soils are referred to as terra rosa and consist of reddish, sandy clays with a stratum of limestone underneath. 

Horus is a Certified Organic Mediterranean paradise growing grapes, almonds, and olives. Natural fertilizers are used to enrich the soil, rose bushes line each row of vines, and pest-fighting organisms are deployed throughout to protect the crop and promote biodiversity. For their red wines, they focus primarily on the two varieties authorized for use in Cerasuolo di Vittoria wines— the dark, plummy Nero d’Avola and the spicy, strawberry-scented Frappato—but Syrah (which many Sicilian vintners thought was an ancient “parent” of Nero d’Avola) also factors into the plantings. And although Sicily did indeed go through a period of infatuation with “international” varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and yes, Syrah, the folks at Horus claim the latter as Sicily’s own—as far as they’re concerned it’s an “autochthonous” (i.e. native) variety of the island, and besides, it’s only an accent note in La Corda Pazza, rather than a dominating force.

For this 2018, Cantina Horus used a third each of Nero d’Avala, Frappato, and Syrah and aged the wine only in tank to preserve its freshness and soil character. For those accustomed to bigger, darker, sappier expressions of Nero d’Avola (many in the ’90s and 2000s aimed for Shiraz-level intensity), this will be a revelation: It is medium-bodied, silky, and bright, more “Burgundian” in scale but resolutely “Mediterranean” in its flavor profile. In the glass, it’s a medium ruby at its core with hints of pink and magenta at the rim, exploding from the glass with perfumed scents of crushed red and blackberries, wild strawberries, cherry kirsch, wild herbs, rose petals, a touch of tomato leaf, black pepper, violet…it is juicy, supple, and easy to drink but remarkably complex and thought-provoking at the same time. We kept going back to it during a wide-ranging tasting and found it to be (a) ever-evolving and (b) one of the best red wines on the table. It’s drinking beautifully now and should continue to thrill over the next few years, and rarely have we encountered a wine so perfectly suited to the tomato-rich, herb-dusted cuisine of the “Italian” south. It is almost a requirement that you cook something Sicilian for this wine, and don’t be afraid to chill it a bit and pair it with seafood—that’s true Sicilitudine in action. Enjoy!