When the evenings draw in and the first cold nights arrive, our family's table in Sicily changes. Out come the cured meats, the aged cheeses, the olives and the warm savoury pies, and with them a bottle of red that many people outside Sicily have never heard of: Perricone. It is one of our favourite wines to open at this time of year, and it was practically made for a winter antipasto spread.
Perricone: an old friend of western Sicily
Perricone, known locally as Pignatello, is one of the native grapes of our island. For decades it was the undisputed leader of the red grapes in western Sicily, before other varieties took the spotlight. We are proud to keep growing it on our family estate near Marsala, in the province of Trapani, where our reds grow in the lower valleys.
Left to its own devices, Perricone can be a little prickly. With careful winemaking, that character turns into a real personality. Our Naturalmente Bio Perricone comes from our organic range. The grapes are handpicked and carefully selected, then fermented in stainless steel at a controlled temperature, with 15–20 days of maceration to draw out colour and flavour. The aim is simple: let the grape and the land speak.
What does it taste like?
In the glass, Perricone is rich with red fruit, laced with notes of liquorice. It has real power and structure, yet it stays fresh and lively rather than heavy. That balance of generosity and freshness is exactly why it works so well with food: it has enough body to stand up to strong, salty flavours, and enough freshness to keep you reaching for another bite.
- Style: organic Sicilian red, 13.5% ABV
- Aromas and flavours: red fruits, liquorice
- Character: powerful and harmonious, with a fresh, lively finish
- Our food match: charcuterie and salty antipasti, veggie pies and cheeses
Building a Sicilian winter antipasto board
In Sicily, antipasto is less a starter and more a way of gathering people around the table. As the weather cools, the board gets heartier. Here is how we like to build one to go with Perricone:
- Cured meats: salami and other salumi. The salt and fat soften the wine's structure, and the wine's fruit lifts the meat.
- Cheeses: a sheep's milk pecorino, young or aged, is a classic Sicilian choice. The more mature the cheese, the more it loves a red with some backbone.
- Olives and preserved vegetables: briny olives, roasted peppers and aubergine under oil all echo the salty, savoury side of the board.
- A savoury pie: in winter, Sicilian kitchens bake stuffed bread-pies such as scacciata, filled with things like broccoli, onion, potato and cheese. A slice of vegetable pie next to a glass of Perricone is one of the simplest pleasures of the season.
Why does it work? Salt and fat love a red with good freshness, and Perricone's liquorice and red fruit notes pick up the savoury, slightly smoky flavours of cured meats and baked pies without overwhelming them.
Our serving tips
A few small things make a big difference:
- Serve it slightly cool, around 16–18°C. If the bottle has been sitting in a warm kitchen, give it 15 minutes in the fridge before opening.
- Open it a little before you eat so it has time to breathe in the glass.
- Bring the cheese and meats out of the fridge half an hour early so their flavours open up too.
- Keep the board generous and the portions small: this is a wine for sharing, grazing and talking late into the evening.
It is also a lovely red to have on the table through the Christmas season, when friends drop by and something to nibble always appears.
Taste it at Veeno
Our family's wines are poured at every Veeno, and our sharing boards are built on the same idea as the one above: good Italian meats and cheeses, made to be enjoyed with a glass of family wine. Come and taste with us at Leeds, Leicester, Edinburgh, Durham or Northallerton, and ask our team which of our Sicilian reds is pouring today.
If you would like to explore our native grapes side by side, our 'Trip to Sicily' Wine Tasting Experience is a wonderful way to travel across the island without leaving your seat. And to learn more about where it all begins, read the story of our family vineyard, where four generations have tended the vines since great-grandfather Francesco planted the first ones.
Salute!
