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Fabrizio Vella
Sicilian winemaker Fabrizio Vella blends fresh Nero d'Avola with a lightly dried passito parcel: a Terre Siciliane IGT red of bramble, black cherry and a raisin-and-liquorice richness. Full-bodied and soft at 13.6%, and well liked by drinkers.
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We track 1 UK retailer across all vintages and formats, including out-of-stock offers. Prices read several times a week. We earn a commission on some links; it never changes the order.
One shop on this page sells this wine, so there is no price to compare between shops. Each price is the one we last read on its page, on the date beside it.
No current retailer offer matches that combination.
Stock status is read from each retailer’s page several times a week and may lag. Case and magnum listings show a per-bottle or per-litre equivalent and sit outside the best-price figure.
The character comes from the blend: a pure, fresh Nero d'Avola parcel lifted by a smaller lightly dried one. Bramble fruit with liquorice, raisin and sweet spice leads, then blackberry and plum, then cherry, with an oak and chocolate edge. The result is soft and full-bodied, a ripe everyday red rather than a dessert wine.
The flavours below are the signature of Nero d'Avola in this style, shown here as shared reference. Tasting notes specific to this bottle are added when we research it.
Black cherry
Blackberry
Fig
Plum
Prune
Raisin
Black pepper
Cinnamon
Liquorice
ChocolateDepasso is a Virgin Wines exclusive, so no rival UK retailer undercuts it. At £15.99 for the 2024 it sits a few pounds above the roughly £11 going rate for a southern-Italian red of this standing. That premium pays for the extra passito-parcel work rather than a grander appellation. A magnum is listed for larger tables.
Magnum 150cl · 2024: £34.99, 1 UK retailer
Scored across six uses, this reads as an easy everyday red first: soft tannins and ripe dried-fruit flavour make it simple to pour. The £15.99 exclusive price and drink-now window keep it off any cellar shortlist. It rewards the beginner curious about Sicilian Nero d'Avola more than the collector.
Ripe, soft and gently sweet with no tannic grip, it is an approachable first step into Sicilian Nero d'Avola for newer drinkers.
An easy, low-acid red at a mid-teens price that suits midweek roasts and relaxed pours.
Soft tannins and ripe dried-fruit flavour make it a flexible partner for roast meats, ragu and hard cheese, though the low acidity limits it with fresh, acidic dishes.
At £15.99 it runs a few pounds above the roughly £11 going rate for a southern-Italian red of this standing. Fair for a passito-blend Virgin Wines exclusive rather than a bargain.
Its softly sweet, festive dried-fruit profile fits a Christmas turkey table more than a formal fine-dining pairing.
Built to drink young for its fruit and listed as best by the end of 2029, it has neither the structure nor the track record for cellaring.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Terre Siciliane denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
The current bottle is the 2024, 13.6% and drinking well now to the end of 2029. Drinkers like it year after year, whichever vintage they open. It is made to drink young for its fruit rather than to reward the cellar.
The 2024 is the current Virgin Wines release at 13.6%, drinking well now to the end of 2029. Across vintages Depasso holds a steady low-to-mid 4.3 on Vivino, so expect the house style: ripe black fruit softened by the lightly dried passito parcel.
The 2024 is the current Virgin Wines release at 13.6%, drinking well now to the end of 2029. Across vintages Depasso holds a steady low-to-mid 4.3 on Vivino, so expect the house style: ripe black fruit softened by the lightly dried passito parcel.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Depasso is bottled as Terre Siciliane IGT, the island-wide indication covering all of Sicily, which leaves producers free on grape, yield and technique. That latitude is the point: partly drying Nero d'Avola for a leggermente appassito style is a route producers typically take under IGT rather than the tighter Sicilia DOC. The grape is Sicily's flagship black variety, Nero d'Avola.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Terre Siciliane is in the IGT tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Terre Siciliane falls within Sicily.
Producer: Fabrizio Vella.
Fabrizio Vella part-dries a share of the Nero d'Avola for the leggermente appassito parcel, then blends it with a fresh parcel. That means two vinifications plus drying losses that a single dry cuvee avoids.
Sold only through Virgin Wines, so the £15.99 is not undercut by rival UK sellers the way a widely distributed Nero d'Avola would be.
UK excise duty is about £2.67 on a 13.6% 75cl bottle, with 20% VAT on top, together a fixed slice of the £15.99 shelf price.
Island-wide IGT fruit carries none of the scarcity premium of a cru or DOCG, holding the price in the mid-teens rather than higher.
The variety is widely grown across the island, so base fruit is affordable versus a rare or low-yield grape.
Dishes that go with this wine
The producer points to roast white meat with a sharp fruit sauce, turkey and cranberry above all, where the wine's dried-fruit sweetness meets the tart sauce. Its soft, low-acid, full-bodied build also carries grilled beef and slow lamb. The one style to sidestep is a bright, high-acid tomato dish.
The producer's own match. The wine's raisin and dried-fruit sweetness meets the tart cranberry, while its soft tannins keep the pairing gentle on lean white meat.
Try with: Roast turkey with cranberry · Glazed Christmas ham · Duck with cherry
This is a full-bodied red with ripe, slightly dried fruit, so it matches the weight of tomato-rich Sicilian pizza and slow southern lamb ragù without being overpowered. Its soft tannins and sweet-edged fruit echo the dishes' richness. A Sicilian wine for Sicilian food.
Try with: Sfincione, Sicilian Pizza · Agnello Ragu Lucano · Pizza Diavola · Fiorentina steak · More pairings →
A full-bodied Nero d'Avola with ripe black fruit stands up to char-grilled beef, the dish Vivino drinkers pair with it most. The soft tannins suit the meat without drying it out.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Grilled ribeye · Brasato al Barolo · More pairings →
Nero d'Avola's tannins are supple here, and the appassimento fruit adds flesh, so the wine wraps around roast lamb, beef and game rather than drying them out. Its gentle grip refreshes between fatty, savoury mouthfuls.
Try with: Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce · Sunday Roast Beef · Venison Stew · Roast Duck · More pairings →
Raisin, liquorice and sweet spice in the wine echo the slow-cooked depth of a lamb ragu, and both lamb and pasta sit on Vivino's pairing list. Low acidity keeps it comfortable with a rich, meaty sauce.
Try with: Agnello ragu lucano · Pappardelle al ragu · Slow-braised lamb · More pairings →
The raisin and dried-fruit aromas from the passito parcel bridge straight to fruit sauces, which is why the winemaker points to turkey and cranberry. The same aromatic echo flatters roast pork with apple or duck with cherry.
Try with: Roast turkey · Roast pork · Duck breast · Roast chicken · More pairings →
The wine's ripe, faintly sweet dried fruit offsets the salt and crystalline bite of a well-aged pecorino, the grilled-meat-and-aged-cheese match Italian tasting sheets note for this style.
Try with: Pecorino sardo with pane carasau · Aged Parmigiano · Provolone piccante · More pairings →
Ripe, faintly sweet fruit balances the salt and crystalline bite of mature hard cheese, while the wine's body stands up to its density. Sicilian pecorino is the natural match, but a strong cheddar works just as well.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Strong cheddar cheese · Lancashire Cheese · Cheese board · More pairings →
Fennel and herb in porchetta bridge to the wine's sweet-spice and liquorice notes, and the fatty pork is softened by its ripe, low-tannin fruit.
Try with: Porchetta · Herb-roasted pork loin · Sausage with lentils · More pairings →
The fresh coastal parcel keeps enough lift to cut through fatty pork belly and crackling, while the sweet-fruited core mirrors glazes and barbecue rubs. A softer red that handles richness without clashing.
Try with: Pork belly · Crispy pork belly · Pulled pork · Roast pork · More pairings →
Its gentle sweetness and low acidity amplify chilli heat instead of cooling it, and the soft, tannin-light structure has no bite to reset the palate. Keep it for savoury, lightly sweet dishes.
Skip with: Arrabbiata with extra chilli · Spicy vindaloo · Nduja-heavy dishes · Pairing guide →
The wine's gentle sweetness amplifies capsaicin, so fiery Szechuan or vindaloo-level heat turns it hot and confected. Its body and dried-fruit weight also flatten delicate sushi and oysters. Save it for cooked, savoury dishes.
Skip with: Fiery Szechuan beef · vindaloo-level curries · sushi · oysters · Pairing guide →
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Aim for the cooler end on a warm day; warmer end opens up more aromatics.
Built to drink young for its fruit and listed as best by the end of 2029, it has neither the structure nor the track record for cellaring.
£15.99 for a 75cl bottle of the 2025, at Virgin Wines, is the best price we track, and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Last refresh: 6 Nov 2026, 06:41 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighA style read drawn from the grape and the appellation, not from this exact bottle. We mark these notes openly so you know what you are reading.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, from how this wine is made, the rules of its appellation, UK duty and VAT and the price shops charge for it today. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumAny advice here on keeping this wine is general, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand. Drinking years, where shown, belong to the vintage named beside them.
Confidence · MediumIt is a dry red with a ripe, gently sweet edge, not a dessert wine. Winemaker Fabrizio Vella blends fresh Nero d'Avola with a smaller passito (dried-grape) parcel, which adds raisin and dried-fruit richness without heavy sugar. Some drinkers still read it as sweetish because the fruit is so ripe and the acidity low.
Leggermente appassito means 'lightly dried'. A share of the Nero d'Avola grapes are partly dried before pressing, which concentrates their sugar and flavour. That is why the wine shows dried-fruit, raisin and liquorice layers over its fresh bramble fruit. The style sits under the island-wide Terre Siciliane IGT.
Roast white meat with a sharp fruit sauce, turkey with cranberry above all, is the producer's own suggestion. The soft tannins and dried-fruit sweetness also suit Fiorentina steak, lamb ragu and aged pecorino. Steer clear of bright, high-acid tomato dishes, which expose its low acidity.
The 2024 is 13.6% alcohol. It drinks well now through the end of 2029. Enjoy it young for its ripe fruit; this is not a wine built for long cellaring.
It is made in Sicily by Fabrizio Vella, a Palermo-trained oenologist, exclusively for Virgin Wines. The grapes are Nero d'Avola from coastal Sicilian vineyards, bottled under the island-wide Terre Siciliane IGT rather than a tighter DOC.
Drinkers like it, year after year. Tasters most often note blackberry and plum, then cherry, alongside an oak, chocolate and dried-fruit character.
6 retailers
Terre Siciliane
6 retailers
£44.00
+ delivery
6 retailers
Terre Siciliane
6 retailers
£44.90
+ delivery
5 retailers
Terre Siciliane
5 retailers
£41.00
+ delivery
5 retailers
Terre Siciliane
5 retailers
£36.00
+ delivery
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How retailer prices are sourced.
Prices and stock are read from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Outbound buy links carry rel="nofollow sponsored noopener". The list is sorted by price; we do not accept payment for placement.
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