We’ve been working with other Li Veli wines for years, but somehow had never tried their higher-end rara avis, a wine made entirely of Susmaniello, a grape almost lost to time. (The name means "little donkey" in Pugliese, the regional dialect.) We expect wines from southern Italy to be hot little bruisers -- but not this one. It's got concentrated, juicy black cherry fruit -- but it's not a heavy, plodding, um, donkey -- far from it. Imagine a Chateauneuf with a bit more Italian stuffing, and you’re close. This is already a lot of our customers’ favorite discovery of the year.