Vineyards Magazine

It is to a small red flower that grows in the spring around the Mediterranean that Benuara owes its name. And, just like that flower, this wine presents itself in the new vintage, 2018, at the end of the cold season, at the end of those five thousand hours of work that the brothers Alberto and Diego Cusumano dedicate to each of the twelve labels that produce in five, very different, kept scattered throughout Sicily.

Benuara was born in Presti and Pegni, from the union of the all Sicilian power of Nero d’Avola to the complexity of Syrah which has found a home suitable for developing its spicy character in the vineyards of this estate. We are in Monreale, on hills where the vineyards are exposed to the sun from sunrise to sunset. To cool the air comes the sea breeze, about 10 km away, which dissipates the heat. Here the soils are clayey and compact, a factor that gives wines greater complexity, starting from the color. The harvest is manual: it starts with Syrah in late August, continues with Nero d’Avola in the first ten days of September. Vinification, with frequent pumping over and punching down, allows to enhance the full color of this wine. The aging takes place at 80% in steel, the rest in large barrels, of 20 hl, to enhance the spicy notes of Syrah and the tannins of Nero d’Avola. The result is a complex wine, but very pleasant and refined.

An elegance, that of Benuara, which is also reflected in its new guise, recently chosen by Cusumano for each of its twelve labels: material colors and interweaving of dark and light backgrounds translate the shades, shades and harmony into color the vines offer the palate. To complete the sensorial experience, the Touching Experience: a plot of free lines placed in relief on the label depicts the rows of Tenuta Presti and Pegni and allows the consumer to enter, with a simple touch, in this corner of Sicily which, like the mosaic tile, it composes the multiple and courageous identity of Cusumano.

Benuara

Sicily D.O.C.
Grapes: Nero d’Avola 70%, Syrah 30%

Nero d’Avola in a complex, refined guise marries Syrah. Elegance and drinkability from the vineyards of Tenuta Presti e Pegni.

Like all Cusumano wines, Benuara uses the SOStain / VIVA “Sustainable Wine” certification. In fact, the common denominator of the diversity and uniqueness of Cusumano wines is the commitment to sustainable viticulture that stems from the sentiment and ethical obligation to protect resources, limiting their waste. A research that translates into actions compliant with the SOStain protocol, the sustainability program for Sicilian viticulture, sponsored by the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies and recognized by the Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea, through the V.I.V.A.

Harvest 2018: quality / price award, Berebene 2020, Gambero Rosso.
Harvest 2017: 93 points, Yearbook of the Best Italian Wines 2019, Luca Maroni; 90 points, Wine Enthisiast, Feb. 2020; 89 points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.