Perricone

Also known as Pignatello, Guarnaccia.

Perricone, also called Pignatello, is a native dark-skinned grape of western Sicily, historically important around Trapani and Palermo and used both as the red base of Marsala Rubino and in dry red blends. Once far more widely planted, it declined through the twentieth century but has seen renewed interest as a distinctive Sicilian native.

It gives deeply coloured, tannic, savoury reds with black fruit, herbal and earthy, sometimes rustic character and good structure. Frequently blended with Nero d'Avola, it is increasingly bottled on its own by growers reviving Sicily's indigenous varieties.