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Aldo Viola

Saignee Rosso Nerello Mascalese 2017

Price: $33.95
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Tasting notes

This is Nerello Mascalese from western Sicily rather than Etna, which means you get the grape's characteristic red fruit and bracing acidity without the volcanic mineral weight — replaced instead by a coastal salinity and wild herb note that makes it unusually refreshing. At 12% ABV and made without fining or filtration, it drinks with the lightness of a good Beaujolais but carries a distinctly Sicilian savory character.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Taste profile
Wild StrawberryPomegranateSea SaltOregano
  • Style: Dry, light-bodied red; pale ruby; saline, herbal, and red-fruited; 12% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Nerello Mascalese; organic; calcareous clay soils; coastal plot ~30km from Alcamo, ~350m elevation, sirocco-exposed
  • Winemaking: Indigenous yeast fermentation; light skin maceration (saignee method); aged in stainless steel; unfined, unfiltered; trace sulfites
  • Serving: Serve at 55-58F; no decant necessary; can be lightly chilled
  • Pairing: Grilled sardines, pasta al pomodoro, mushroom risotto, aged pecorino, oily fish
  • Similar To: For fans of light-bodied, high-acid reds like Gamay, Schiava, or lighter Pinot Noir who want a saline Mediterranean edge

Aldo Viola's Saignee Rosso is 100% Nerello Mascalese sourced from a coastal vineyard plot located roughly 30 kilometers from his home base in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani. The vines sit at approximately 350 meters above sea level and face into the sirocco winds that blow from the south, creating a hot, arid microclimate with conditions more similar to northern Africa than to most Italian wine country. The soils here are calcareous clay, distinct from the iron-rich sandy-clay Timpi Rossi soils near Alcamo where Aldo's white varieties grow.

The name Saignee refers to the winemaking approach: a light skin maceration followed by a bleed-off of free-run juice, producing a wine that sits somewhere between a deep rosé and a pale red. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel. The 2017 is aged in stainless steel and bottled without fining or filtering. Sulfites are present in trace amounts only.

Nerello Mascalese delivers naturally high acidity and restrained tannin regardless of where it is grown in Sicily. Here, grown in a coastal rather than volcanic context, the grape shows lifted red fruit, a notable saline edge, and an herbal character that reflects the wind-buffeted terrain. The wine is classified as Terre Siciliane IGP, the broad regional designation that allows Aldo flexibility outside the narrower Alcamo DOC rules.

At 12% ABV, this is a genuinely light red — one that rewards a slight chill and drinks well through a meal rather than demanding food.

Works well alongside oily fish like grilled sardines or mackerel, where its acidity and salinity cut through the fat cleanly. Also a natural match for pasta with tomato-based sauces, mushroom risotto, or a plate of aged pecorino. Serve with a light chill — around 55-58F — to keep it bright.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Nerello Mascalese
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2017
Alcohol:, 12%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Sicily
Appellation:, Terre Siciliane IGP
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


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If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


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Placed an order. What next?

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2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Aldo Viola

Azienda Agricola Aldo Viola is a family estate in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani in northwestern Sicily, where the Viola family has farmed vines for four generations. Aldo, son of Don Ancilino, grew up around the winery but left Sicily in his twenties, spending years in Denmark before returning in 1996. He studied enology in Marsala and became the first enologist of the Centopassi cooperative, an organization farming land confiscated from the Corleonesi mafia clan following the arrest of Salvatore Riina. He eventually left to build his own estate.

Aldo farms two distinct sites. The primary vineyards — planted to Catarratto, Grillo, and Grecanico — are located on the steep iron-rich sandy-clay slopes of the Timpi Rossi hills near Alcamo at higher elevations. A second coastal plot, roughly 30 kilometers from the winery and closer to the sea, is planted to Nerello Mascalese, Perricone, and Syrah. This coastal site sits at around 350 meters above sea level, faces strong sirocco winds, and experiences an especially hot and arid microclimate. Aldo works without synthetic chemicals, harvests by hand, and performs nearly all vineyard work manually. Total production across all wines is approximately 10,000 bottles per year.

In the cellar, Aldo ferments with indigenous yeasts and neither fines nor filters. He does not add enzymes, commercial yeast nutrients, or other enological adjustments. After years of producing wines with zero added sulfur, he now adds trace amounts — never exceeding 20 milligrams per liter — in select wines when he judges it necessary to preserve clarity of expression. For his white and orange wines, he relies on long skin macerations lasting up to eight or nine months. His reds, including the Saignee, use a shorter, lighter maceration intended to produce lifted, fresh, and digestible wines rather than extracted, tannic ones.

Wine region

Sicily, Italy

Sicily is Italy's largest wine region at roughly 98,000 hectares under vine, and its westernmost corner — the province of Trapani, where Alcamo sits — accounts for some of the island's highest vine density. The climate in this part of Sicily is hot and dry with Mediterranean characteristics: rainfall concentrated in winter months, long dry summers, and persistent winds from both the northwest (maestrale) and south (sirocco). These winds moderate temperatures and reduce disease pressure, making organic farming more viable here than in much of Italy. Vineyards in the area range from near sea level up to 600 meters, with the higher sites producing wines with more defined acidity and structure.

Northwestern Sicily is historically dominated by white varieties, particularly Catarratto, which forms the backbone of Alcamo DOC bianco. Alcamo DOC earned its designation in 1972, originally restricted to whites, then expanded in 1999 to include reds, rosés, and late-harvest wines. Soils across the subregion are predominantly limestone and calcareous marl, with sandy clay and marine deposits in lower-lying coastal plots. The broader Terre Siciliane IGP designation covers all of Sicily and gives producers like Aldo Viola flexibility to work with varieties and styles that fall outside the stricter DOC framework. Key indigenous varieties across the island include Nerello Mascalese, Nero d'Avola, Catarratto, Grillo, Grecanico, Frappato, and Perricone.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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