Twenty-four mind-blowing wines of 2024

Dec27

‘Tis an exercise performed year after year, a word processor’s per annum distillation to say thank you and recognize game. To consistently act as messenger, be conscious of hard work filed and to celebrate that excellence. The first list was conceived more than 10 years ago, now peaking at its current number with twenty-four mind-blowing wines chosen for 2024. Travels to fluctuating destinations mean from year to year wine regions will carry different weight and the list abides by the variance. In 2023 Bordeaux played a significant role, as did South Africa and Washington in 2022, Bourgogne in 2019, and so on. The rules of engagement never change but evolution plays its part, priorities pivot and you never can say or tell what sorts of matters will strike deep into the heart.

Last one standing (sitting and tasting) at the Chianti Classico Collection 2024

Godello needs to make a confession, shed some honesty, clear the air. He admits to a love for writing tasting notes and needing to do it, especially when a potentially mind-blowing wine is in the glass and what follows flows forth as a stream of consciousness, ending only when the creative tap closes naturally. When these notes are edited weeks or even months later there is the incredulous feeling of “how did this get written – where did these words come from?” They just did, from right out of the wellspring of creativity, but Godello does not know how he came to write those notes – as if they were magically written. Paragraphs woven from dots and thoughts for unsuspecting connections between writings and wine, such as “Ribelle è colui che si distingue.” Translated as, or better yet in reference to “the rebel is the one who recognizes the unjust law and breaks free from it,” from Ernst Jünger’s 1951 “The Rebel’s Treatise.” The German philosopher, essayist and WWII captain was once called die Burgunderszene because he watched a bombing raid in Paris while sipping Burgundy. The stylish supervillain of twentieth-century German literature’s disquisition shared dire and prophetic words on what a future world would be, in what he called the “Age of the Titans.”

Godello beneath a massive Tuscan Mazza di Tamburo/Parasol Mushroom

Or this. “The label represents the position of the vines in coordinates, echoed in the machicolations of a sangiovese that drops all the stones on unsuspecting palates through fruit openings between supporting acid corbels of a projecting tannic parapet.” Where did that come from? Or simply, “who needs fruit when you have rocks?”

ColleMassari

More than rugs tie rooms together – lyrics, song titles, movie quotes, literary passages, exchanges between a journalist and a poet, thinker, writer, actor or composer – they are all a part of the masala. Reminds of a 2021 interview with a reluctant prophet. “Try to sit down and write something like that – there’s a magic to that and it’s not Siegfried & Roy kinda magic you know, it’s a different kind of penetrating magic.” All kidding comparisons aside with Bob Dylan’s answers to Ed Bradley in that famous 60 minutes exchange, but they may just be artistic words to live by. And why Godello? “You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free.” As for the relevance of wine tasting notes, sure it feels like being “a wordsmith from bygone days,” but it still feels right. And necessary. And unavoidable. A bottomless pit of cultural oblivion? No, not that. Tasting notes tell stories that need to be told. Relayed by messengers fulfilling a destiny to visit and break bread with good people making great wines and in turn agreeing to relay their tales. Tasting notes are the chronicles, expressed as narrative, of anecdotes woven through prose. If there is a better way to say what needs to be said it has not yet been found.

Chianti Classico’s Cento Anni

As of today’s date and the publishing of this year-end list Godello has reviewed 4,225 wines. If the origins of said wines were to be separated into categories than the breakdown would be as follows. Thirty percent would be from the LCBO’s VINTAGES release program, 24 percent for WineAlign Exchange curation and wine reviewing service, (12) Chianti Classico, (8) Piemonte, (6) Montalcino, (6) Sicilia and the remaining (14) from travels to other parts of Italy and around the world. A smaller part of one percent would be from wines enjoyed with friends, tasting groups, wine agent reps, visiting winemakers and at home. It all adds up to one great pool from which to create this list of 24, a number to represent just slightly more than half of one percent of the wines tasted by Godello in 2024. Here are his twenty-four mind-blowing wines of 2024.

Angelina Franzen – Weingut Franzen

Weingut Franzen Riesling Sterneberg Großes Gewächs 2020, Große Lagen, Mosel

Killian and Angelina Franzen’s best plot in the Neefer Frauenberg is called Sterneberg. Vines were planted in 1938 on grey slate for a different, next level mineral quality and quotient for Mosel riesling. These are own-rooted vines, old, experienced and wise, their resulting dry wine coming away like the desert because sugar and acids near-equal come together seamlessly. The most viscosity and texture of the Franzen rieslings, from a hot vintage and so concentration, unctuousness, flesh, pulp and glissade are all at peak performance. Glorious and confident, outspoken but only to make sure we understand its origins and Franzen abides by its voice. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted March 2024

Caroline Diel – Schlossgut Diel

Schlossgut Diel Dry Riesling Pittermännchen GG 2022, Vdp. Grosses Gewächs

The tiny one hectare cru Pittermännchen is a name that dates to the middle ages with a connection to the people of Köln and Düsseldorf. Grand cru site of weathered grey (Devonian) slate atop Rotliegend conglomerate that dates back several million years. The geo-agricultural texture is small decomposed particles as opposed to the larger stones of the Mosel. Expressive flint stone aromatics undeniably soil related and not much fruit to discuss, save for some variegate currants but you really have to conjure imagination. There is a mille-feuille density to this riesling that peels away and delivers waves in layers without boundaries. Complexities are revealed without pause and dryness results because purity and grip replace the necessity for sugar-acid balance. So stony, long and our palates are held captive. Top shelf riesling within the idiom. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted March 2024

Adega Do Vulcáo (c) entrevinhas.com

Adega Do Vulcáo Ameixâmbar 2022, Açores IG

A seriously volcanic blend of native grapes from two areas, first the ash of the Capelinhos and second the basalt of the Criaçào Velha. Add in the cold Atlantic influence and the result is something extraordinary to potentially mind-blowing. That depends on how much flint struck rock, mineral mouthfuls and deepening trajectories you may or not desire in your endemically-formulated white wines. Ameixambar is just such an animal and the profile, especially noted with verve and lashes upon the palate, is well, remarkable. Nothing else feels or tastes like this wine. Truly salty and there are notes that imagine powder created by crushing many different shells, inclusive of oyster, calm and mussel. You may ask yourself what is this, but you can answer with a simple word, or place. Açores. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted July 2024

Inama I Palchi Grande Cuvée Foscarino Soave Classico DOC 2021

I Palchi, as in the “stages,” a geographical term for a series of wide terraces aboard Monte Foscarino lined with pergolas of old garganega vines. In this case Inama’s highest level of Soave Classico meant to celebrate the ancients. As a surname it belonged to a cleric but also Antonio Foscarini (c. 1570 in Venice – 22 April 1622), member of the Venetian nobility, ambassador to Paris, London and later sentenced to death for high treason by the Council of Ten and executed. Yikes! This Foscarino ode is intended towards grapes and volcanic terroir for a bloody incredible garganega of substance and style. The ’21’s ability to attract and engage the taster’s attention is at the top of the Soave game. Fresh, flinty and wholly engaging. Mind-blowing actually. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted December 2024

Marqués De Murrieta Capellanía Reserva Blanco 2018, Rioja DOCa

Only viura grapes are chosen from a six hectare calcareous clay plot off of 70 year-old vines located at the highest elevation of the Marqués De Murrieta Ygay Estate. The winemaking might well be working with sauvignon blanc and sémillon but with viura the ageing in French barrels takes a turn for the unexpected ethereal. The flinty smoulder is an intoxicant of the most hypnotizing order. The effect upon the palate and all the senes is extraordinary – mesmerizing. So what is Capellanía? In Spain it was a chantry or ecclesiastical endowment, one of several pious works commonly founded during the colonial period. A foundation in which certain assets are subject to the fulfillment of masses and other pious charges. Imaginatively speaking Capellanía is a rarity, monoceros, symbol of grace purity, power and transcendence. Not to mention healing powers and freedom. A unicorn. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted June 2024

Vanessa Cherruau
(c) media.ouest-france.fr

Château De Plaisance Sur La Butte 2021, Anjou AOP

A wildly aromatic two cabernet blend from the Butte de Chaume where some of the finest wines made anywhere come from Chaume, Quarts de Chaume and Savennières. The curiosity and modernist approach is made two-fold by the presence of cabernet sauvignon to stride effortlessly alongside the usual franc. Yes this smells like the Loire but the aromas deliver so much more, in curiosity and intriguing sensations. Anjou in place and temperament but in design this may as well be a contemporary, abstract or Pop Art piece by François Morellet. The two related varieties form an almost intricate geometric pattern in the way they line the palate, so cleanly drawn with mathematical clarity. Yes this is serious Loire red wine but it’s also traceable, pre-minimalist and post conceptual by design. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted April 2024

Godello and Giuseppe Russo

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC San Lorenzo 2023

San Lorenzo as Bianco from Giuseppe Russo is not like other Etna Bianco because well, San Lorenzo. Wow is the operative because no other EB gives like this. Beyond flesh and stone but something that defines what the two can effect, layered so invisibly and magically together. It seems impossible to believe that extract and conversions could come together this way, urged and supported buy some of the mountain’s finest quality of acidity and white grape tannins. This must be the place, eh? Carricante with 10 percent catarratto and grecanico makes it happen. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May 2024

With Alphonse Potel – Domaine de Bellene

Domaine De Bellene Vosne Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots Bourgogne AOC 2022

In the woods as they say, “souches” or here “Suchots,” a 0.2159 hectare block in Vosne-Romanée that hangs a little longer, likely because the forest asks it to. Fresher, high spirited and savoury Bourgogne comes from the vineyard, picked on September 5th, coming away with more phenolic grip and aromatic volume because of the place. Less defined in 2022 perhaps because of a vintage’s great munificence but as far as plots in this area are concerned there are few that will speak as clearly as Les Suchots. Seamless and focused, unique as they come in an era of technical proficiency and expertise. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted August 2024

Marc de Grazia – Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Calderara Sottana 2022

What Marc de Grazia considers to be the finest contrada on the north slope and yet there are micro plots within the eight parcels that can only be made into Rosato in humid vintages. This comes from the oldest vines, more than 80 years old and just one look sees a brightness and transparency inciting the senses as they take in a bouquet not having yet nosed in the other Rossi. Calderara Sottana is the most demure, the finest of sound and vision, the one you take in slowest, without haste, to allow unfurling and length to travel as far as it wishes, evocatively so. “It asks delicate questions,” says de Grazia. “Rose petal perfume and tannins that don’t cut off your palate.” Even more is this elastic meander, not aimless but with purpose and our palates follow every step. Like Giuseppe Russo’s (though de Grazia sees little comparison) this provides the exception to so many Etna Rosso rules. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted September 2024

Collina Serragrilli Barbaresco DOCG Sorì Serragrilli 2021, Neive

Lovely aromatic presence, richly defined fruit of purity and expressiveness, fine and open. Exotic spicing and truly floral of a perfume that keeps one from needing to rush into a sip. The palate does not disappoint in fact it carries off and forward with equal ability to hold attention for as long as a participant is willing to hang around. These are tannins as fine as the sweet and supportive acids that precede them. A really impressive Barbaresco, forthright and a test of qualities held in reserve that can be counted upon for a decade and a half more time. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted blind at Nebbiolo Prima January 2024

With Michela Morris, Nadia and Walter Fissore – Elvio Cogno

Elvio Cogno Barolo DOCG Ravera Bricco Pernice 2019, Novello

The hill within the hill, Bricco Pernice upon Ravera, isolated, insulated and encapsulated for nebbiolo of an insular and implosive intensity that’s likely unparalleled anywhere else in Novello. Closed and not because of vintage but due to time and really that’s about it A broad shouldered and muscular nebbiolo that must be given as much bottle time as it spent in cask, or double that for even better results. That means check back in 2026 or later to see if any part of the tannins have unfolded, unfurled or stretched out for some exercise. Likely not but then some parts will finally have as the decade unwinds. Also it’s normal in January for Pernice to be tight and a bit closed. Oh, by the way this was made with 100 PERCENT WHOLE BUNCH NEBBIOLO. For Barolo. Single vineyard Barolo from a storied MGA. Walter’s mid-life crisis begins right here and it’s glorious. Drink 2029-2045. Tasted January 2024

Nebbiolo Prima 2024

Cavallotto Tenuta Bricco Boschis Barolo DOCG Bricco Boschis 2010, Castiglione Falletto

A top echelon cru, a producer that gets it as well as if not better than the rest and an eponymous label out of a relationship that develops longevity without equal. That would be the thrilling isosceles trilogy of Cavallotto Tenuta Bricco Boschis, Bricco Boschis and Barolo. Their 2010 is as youthful as any nebbiolo of this age, striking, rising, invigorating and still working through its operations. A performance piece of varietal for landscape as the most terroir driven Barolo as any of the best in the land can be. A triangle of Castiglione Falletto that speaks in unequivocal terms, fruit, acid and tannin intertwined, five years of this life still laid out ahead, 10 further for curiosity and interest beyond. Truth. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted January 2024

Poggio Lombrone, Tenuta di Montecucco

Collemassari Montecucco Sangiovese Riserva DOCG Poggio Lombrone 2018

I walked this vineyard only recently upon arriving to the Castello di Montecucco at the advent of a blue-lit twilight on the second Sunday in November. The impression was a captivating one, from the site, its undulating slopes casting a strong and forceful presence. Poggio Lombrone was first made in 2007 and ColleMassari’s voice was instrumental in securing the DOCG for Montecucco sangiovese. A special vineyard with older plant material than just about anywhere in Montecucco, upwards of 60 years now and THE place to promote the authenticity, but also to preserve the local savoir-faire that distinguishes Montecucco sangiovese. Longest ager in Riserva togs because of potential, a wine of località Cinigiano fermented for at least 30 days (and 45 in 2016) in open Gamba casks with daily (hand) punchdowns to realize a production of 9,000-10,000 bottles. Ages in only two or three year-old grandi botti but not in really old casks. French of a few years are ideal to seek and attain the desired elegance. The 2018 is a strong version of varietal independence off of the Lombrone hillside, upright and linear yet never found to be awkward, though it is a wine of tannic charge. Fine tannins in fact with good energetic pulse, still needing more integration, its ceiling set ultra high. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Michael Schmelzer – Monte Bernardi, Panzano

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG MB1933 2021, Panzano

From the 90 year-old vigorous vineyard and insists Michael Schmelzer, “it would be insane to make it not the way it was planted.” Ten grapes which add up to a 100 percent field blend that may include sangiovese, colorino rosso, colorino bianco, malvasia nera, canaiolo and ciliegiolo. Once again the respect to agricultural heritage and long maceration conspire for complexities and flavours that most people don’t associate with Chianti Classico. If this is what the old farmers were producing then quality was actually a thing, at least in 1933. MB is Marcello Bartolini, teacher and mentor who just retired in December 2023. Crunchy, tart, red citrus intensity and a char of herbs. Perhaps not quite a unicorn but surely one of the most singular wines made in the entirety of the Chianti Classico territory. If classic is also a thing than this would be it but what it is not is Riserva, or Gran Selezione. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2024

Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1982

One of the great vintages for Chianti Classico, in all of Tuscany, most of Italy and as everyone knows, also Bordeaux. At this point the 100 percent large Slavonian cask aging is in full swing for wood with which Fabrizio Bianchi began replacing his old chestnut barrels back in the early 1970s. This would have been a bomb when it first went to bottle, so massively structured and immovable in its first 15-20 years. Possibly up until 10 years ago but is now so crunchy and giving so that all is forgiven. About as ideal as a sangiovese can be, resolved, cool and impossibly fresh. Laura feels a connection looking forward to 2015. This remains to be seen. Come back after 10 minutes and the clove can’t be missed. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Luca Martini di Cigala and nephew Federico

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Percarlo 2019, Toscana IGT

The 100 percent sangiovese that lives for itself and yet Luca Martini always feels that the wine shows the truest character of the place. Percarlo holds a higher percentage of grapes grown on Tufo soil (non volcanic sediment left behind by the water that was here three to four million years ago), a soil of sandy quality and pebbles. Results in a salty quality, a mineral quotient, a stream of airy brightness within a very structured and powerful sangiovese. Great saltiness and also fruit, a minty or mirto sensation that creates a cool, salt licked feeling. There is no other wine like this. Amazing freshness incarnate. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted February 2024

Montevertine Le Pergole Torte 2021, Toscana IGT

As expected Le Pergole Torte expresses more volume and aromatic concentration than Montervertine mainly because its source are the oldest vines, namely the 1968 and 1972 original blocks. Twenty to 25 days of maceration with pump-overs, followed by a racking off and then a return to the concrete vats for another few months for malolactic fermentation. A year in barriques (on average 15-20 percent new) and another year in Garbellotto Slavonian cask, maximum 18 hL size. Martino Manetti is reminded of 2007, a vintage that acted closed early with the requiem of a minimum four to five years to be released from its tannic chains. And yet these days Manetti’s wines open sooner – it’s just a fact of change, maturity, growing and mapping out better sangiovese. The floral meets Macigno mineral expressiveness is present from the start yet without the intensity of 2017, nor is 2021 showy with the power of 2018. This 2021 resides right there in the balanced middle wheelhouse and should rightfully begin to give generously of itself starting in 2026. Some sangiovese are just in another league. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted May 2024

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2020

Montosoli the northerly Montalcino mound, the hill of freshness, the knoll where sangiovese gains grip, savour and elegance, where Canalicchio di Sopra’s Vigna designate Brunello from six hectares delivers approximately five into this wine. The precision and fluidity of this ’20 is just about as fine and graceful as the Ripaccioli have ever produced. Literally the juice or blood of Montosoli’s Galestro, a clay-schist flaking at the surface bleeding back down into the earth, acquired by the roots, vacuumed back up into the vines and gifted to the bunches. Sapidity is similar to 2018 and that year was cold(er) which explains how soil is such the driver, especially for Montosoli. This tastes as you might expect, concentrated, texturally full and without pause. Incredible Brunello. Poised, seemingly ready but not, looking ahead two decades, maybe more. With thanks to perfectly restrained cellar work, timing and decision making. In this moment, at least in terms of clarity, 2020 is a Montosoli vintage. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2024

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Phenomena 2019

There are normal, standard Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, there are proper and representative examples, also exceptional versions and then there are the ones of ephemeral beauty. Fleeting in part because of their natural perfumes, scents that come from the fruiting bodies alone, mostly from the skins and yet like people there are some whose scents you never forget. Such is the case with Phenomena, a silent and measured creature of sangiovese but one that comes back to your thoughts and senses long after you are no longer in contact with the wine. Phenomena is also a Brunello of feeling, which means something ethereal, tactile and conclusive. Not seductive mind you, but suggestive and this 2019 will carry on, for some impossibly calculated infinite amount of time, as close to forever as could justifiably be imagined. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted November 2024

With Giacomo Neri

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Cerretalto 2019

The Cerretalto canyon is this singular Brunello’s origin, the place defined by Giacomo Neri as a “plintite,” of quartz, iron and magnesium elements residing next to and bleeding into the four hectare vineyard, which is incidentally a cooler località for Montalcino and very special place. Rare in the world, of an elemental-geological symbiosis found in parts of Australia, Brazil, China and here, in Montalcino. “It’s another planet” insists Giacomo Neri. You will smell blood and flint (a.k.a. gunpowder) because of the mineral personality. This is Brunello di Montalcino from sangiovese something altogether incomparable. A sangiovese wearing the terroir of a Tuscan trough on its sleeve, having spent two and a half years in tonneaux (more or less 20 percent new) and the same amount of time in bottle ahead of its much anticipated release. Yes the aromatics are concerned with trace metals and ingredients of the “canalone” of Torrenieri, but do not sleep on the purity and modernity of red to black fruit, or at least the perception brought forth because of the minerals involved. Sweetness of acidity is classic Casanova di Neri for 2020 but in Cerretalto they are near perfect and the tannins move from those noted out of Tenuta Nuova multiplied by the Giovanni Nero fineness to now enter into the arena of higher love. For the first time this estate’s Brunello di Montalcino should be given an absurd amount of time. Observing it change in the glass over 30 minutes explains much of what is needed to be known. Drink 2028-2043. Tasted November 2024

Contrada Chiesa, Emidio Pepe

Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOCG 2021, Colline Teramane, Torano Nuova

Nothing else noses like this montepulciano and what is also perceived is the extreme youth of such an example. Gifts with shadowy hints and generous ideas but the sensations yet to come are manyfold, if quite possibly infinite. Fruit source just feels tops and selection so much more stringent than just about any in the appellation. Tannins are about as tight as any in all of Abruzzo and the interplay between fruit and structure is both playful but also gripped by an intensity of tension. A few sips gathers the swarthiness of the vintage but time will elasticize and disperse the parts. The potential here is great and if this is not looked upon as a top vintage today there will be times over the next 25 years where that opinion is challenged. Drink 2027-2039. Tasted March 2024

Feudo Montoni Sandwich – Between Fabio Sireci and Melissa Muller

Feudo Montoni Nero d’Avola Vrucara 2020, Sicilia DOC

Increasingly the use of sun-dried stems are added back in after some time, like sweet wood notes that alter Vrucara’s physiology for the best. The number is 20-25 percent in 2020. If there are weak vintages of Feudo Montoni’s Vrucara they are yet to be revealed and this 2020 resides near the top of the island’s nero d’Avola chain. Just walk the vineyard, in fact just hear the history and explanations from Fabio Sireci’s mouth and you will understand. Richness meets structure for balance at the vanishing point as if we sit at the bottom of the hill looking upwards from the vineyard, up to the Baglio and then the sky. The fruit is special from 2020, already showing the first subtle hints of maturity and the tannins are perhaps the sweetest ever designed. When Vrucara hits the five year mark it will entrench itself as one of Sicily’s finest drinking red wines for five more. It’s abilities transcend grape and island to last for five more after that before starting its slow five to ten year declension. Is there better value in top grade nero d’Avola from Sicilia? Drink 2025-2035. Tasted May 2024

Vineyards in Ulmo

Planeta Cabernet Franc Didacus 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Should there be a finer and more appropriate place to plant and raise cabernet franc on the entirety of Sicily that information should immediately be made public. Planeta’s Ulmo vineyard brings the grape to singular light, here 25 years after its introduction and it has become abundantly clear how it resides at the pinnacle and signature for reds out of Menfi. The 2020 is just now settling in and acting perfectly comfortable in its skin, fruit still swelling and always with the potential to burst free at any time. These are near perfect acids, sweet and sumptuous, allowing for movement and at this ideal stage, also development. There are hints at secondary character in the chiaroscuro shadows slow to reveal themselves. Sumac and pomegranate, a lightly browning and caramelizing eggplant before finishing with a wood encouraged dusting, as if by cocoa and clove. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted September 2024

Yalumba The Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Coonawarra, South Australia

From vines planted in 1994 and 1996 right there where it matters within Coonawarra’s terra rossa strip. The Menzies, as in the name of the estate where the Hill-Smith family saw the future back in 1992, there on a flat plain, approximately 70 km from the coast. The cooling Bonney upwelling is an influence and the red soil is, well everything. That said 2017 was a wet and cool season by Coonawarra standards and harvest required many passes over a 10-day period in April. Climate being what climate has become translates as a special cabernet sauvignon because the cool factor, for gelid fruit and sweet savour, not to mention more complex notions of herbs, spices and seasoning than you could seemingly fit into one bottle of cabernet sauvignon. Complexity be glory, as they say and the rest will be history. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted October 2024

Good to go!

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Etna Days are here to stay

Dec6

Versante Nord, L’Etna

As an event Etna Days may only be four years in the making, but it is a great one. That it falls in the second week of September is a thing of brilliance, with weather warm and nurturing, grapes continuing to hang on the vines, the harvest on producers’ minds and yet still far enough away. The setting is spectacular, with ancient lava flows all-around, signs of new ones spewing from craters above 3,000 metres, vineyards marked by stone terraces and walls, century vines thriving here, there and everywhere. No two blocks look the same with each producing a unique Etna Bianco or Rosso. Confidence and morale feel to be at an all time high.

The Sommeliers of Etna Days

Never mind the challenges of 2023, including a May 3rd hailstorm, some but far from devastating presence of the Perenospera (mildew) virus and lower vine yields. What will follow the lower quantity and high quality of 2023 will by now have been the promise of a brilliant 2024 harvest. The Etna DOC Consortium suggests that the latest rains after the hot and dry summer have slowed down the ripening process, thereby helping to enhance phenolic and aromatic components. Slower and more gradual maturation proved to be decisive in terms of improvements in quantity and quality. The Consortium estimates a harvest of around 80,000 quintals (about 35/40% white grapes and the remainder red) and a likely production potential of more than 55,000 hectolitres. In terms of volume, the harvest is expected to be up by around 60 percent compared to 2023.

La Gelsomina Di Colombo

There is no understanding of modern Etna without a proper historical base and that begins with the ancient, but also more recent visualization of the Palmento. In some cases outdoor stone remains can be seen, including that of the 1300 year-old Palmento at Rupestre in Pietramarina, Castiglione di Sicilia. It was excavated out of one rock, a vasca carved from the sandstone, a lagares for treading on grapes used by the Sicel peoples, early settlers in eastern Sicily. The island is littered with archeological sites that prove the existence of winemaking going back three thousand years but on L’Etna it is the presence of restored stone buildings where, with the use of gravity, grapes would have been collected and fermented into wine. At Palmento Costanzo the buildings that housed the original wine making were restored in 2015 and finished in 2019. The technology is new but the gravity fed Palmento abides by the old ways.

Alberello planted in pentangles, five per grouping all facing a central axis at Palmento Costanzo, Contrada Santa Spririto

For centuries I Catanesi would have come up the mountain to purchase in bulk where necessitous viticulture was born in harmony but also with respect to the landscape. In the 19th century approximately 100 million litres of wine was produced on Mount Etna, all from the various Palmenti. Wine born of a place with an active volcano rising above vineyards at 3,300m of elevation, a climate unlike anywhere else on Sicily and a terroir aboard geology conceived from hundreds of various lava flows throughout the course of its history. The differences in biodiversity from block to block, contrada to contrada and village to village are evident in the multifarious plant life growing on the extant slopes of the volcano.

Consorzio President Francesco Cambria

The various lava flows, each with a unique set of stone in chronological stages of degradation, from the hardest lava rock through gravels and into sand are all characterized by a distinct set of weathered minerals and elements contained within. How each corridor and at what elevation affects the endemic grape varieties is a great mystery and so many of us will spend a lifetime trying to make some sense of the how and why. The Etnaese carricante, white and red minnella, nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio are children raised and nurtured by the slope, elevation and geological make-up that is their home on the mountain.

Etna Days Rosso

Whether by Alberello or modern day Guyot or Cordone Speronato training it is the age and disintegration of soil that seems to be the greatest influencer on their outcomes. Serena Costanzo talks of the innovative pruning method of Simon & Sirsch, of which “the principle rule is ramification – build a chronology of live wood; first year, second year, third year and so on” with a method that does not interrupt the lymphatic system. They remind that “a vine is not a tree, but a liana” and that “pruning, which is and remains a mutilating technical act for the plant, causes consequences within the plant…a rethinking of pruning, so that it was more respectful of the physiology of the plant.” There are ramifications, the necessity of continuance for sap flow, to make small cuts and hold a respect for the wood. They have observed “how the application of a dynamic and physiological pruning of the plant promote an increase in living wood over the years, with a consequent intact and efficient lymphatic system.” Their most essential reminder is that “there is no good or bad pruner but there is a trained and an untrained pruner. The Simon & Sirsch system “is a way to combat climate change,” says Serena, “especially during periods of extreme heat.” Nerello Mascalese trained by Alberello and planted in pentangles, five per grouping all facing a central axis works opposite to traditional rows and is Palmento Costanzo’s way of maximizing root structure and efficiency.

With John Szabo M.S. and Consorzio Director Maurizio Lunetta

It bears reminding that L’Etna is a an active volcano and so what spews out and forth from its craters will constantly affect viticulture. The new settling of wind-carried ashes and lapilli are perpetually adding new layers to old soils which in turn induces innate revisions and so from vintage to vintage Etna’s wines are always in flux, forever subjugated to constant change. One only needs to have tasted the last few vintages of the Etna Bianco Superiore from the village of Milo to intuit just how significant an effect these wind-blown fragments have had on the wines. They have never been more intriguing, exciting and frankly better. Studies of these eastern Etna soils in a cooler micro-zone show significant levels of silica, iron, magnesium and potassium in the soils, combining to gift the Bianco with much to digest.

Related – All the wines of Sicily

That is the past and from the start of the First World War through to the 1970s and 1980s the wine business aboard L’Etna fell away to pieces. It’s resurrection is but 30 years in the making and the transformation of the past 10-plus years is nothing short of remarkable. The oenologist, farmer and cellar dweller will say that the use of Palmenti and the Alberello are key to restoring dignity, faith in humanity and the true essence of what it means to produce Etna wines. Consorzio President Francesco Cambria will say that the most important project is to see the passage of the denomination transform from the Italian DOC to DOCG. These are all matters to consider and get behind, for some it’s about the heart and for others the reality of business and therefore life.

Carlo Flamini, Maurizio Lunetta, Luigi Moio, Bertrand Gauvrit and Francesco Cambria

Etna Days is an exceptionally well run and seamlessly orchestrated event with thanks to the teams involved. Consorzio Etna DOC’s Presidente Francesco Cambria, Direttore Maurizio Lunetta and Segreteria di Direzione Sarolta Stella Osvath. The team at Ispropress with Angiolino Lonardi, Bernardetta Lonardi, Simone Velasco, Sara Faroni, Marina Catenacci, Marta De Carli and Eleonora Alberti Cermison. The third edition of the 2024 Etna Days congress assembled for the first morning’s welcome with expanded perspectives and analyses of international dimension. Cambria and Lunetta hosted speeches by Carlo Flamini (Head of the Italian Wine Union Observatory), Bertrand Gauvrit (General Director of the Association des Climats du Vignoble de Bourgogne) and Luigi Moio (President of the International Organization of Vine and Wine). Sommelier assisted technical tastings, walk around chats with the producers and touring visits at estates all combined to deliver a profound sense of modern day Etna. High-level discussions were had on location with Tenuta delle Terre Nere’s Marc de Grazia, Benanti’s Salvino Benanti, Papa Maria Cuore Di Marchesa’s Pietro Giovanni, Rupestre and Terre Darrigo’s Rosario Raciti, Palmento Costanzo’s Valeria and Serena Costanzo, Quantico’s Giovanni Raiti, Tascante’s Michele Brusaferri and Vittoria Cerniglia and Planeta’s Patricia Tóth. For his part Godello made tasting notes on 150-plus wines. These are his reviews.

Etna Spumante DOC and Terre Siciliane IGT

Benanti Viticoltori Noblesse Brut Carricante Método Classico 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

Twenty years into the (traditional method) sparkling wine program with help from a northern (Suditrol) sparkling wine company, 24 months on lees. Brut which here means 4-5 g/L of residual sugar, more than relatively dry with carricante. Reductive, high energy, tight and immovably youthful. Dried herbs, fennel, brushy and dusty savour. Acidity is quite fine, balance is struck and the lees aging time spot on for this widely appealing yet serious sparkling wine. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Noblesse XLVIII Brut Carricante Método Classico 2019, Terre Siciliane IGT

The Noblesse was named because Giuseppe Benanti saw himself as identifying with high level French sparkling wines and this next tier rise sees the wine remain on lees for 48 months. Similar RS (below 5 g/L) but the extra time brings quite a factor of autolysis as a by-product of time. Yeast-bready in just the correct way, harmony struck between the autolytic notes and acidity yet with a higher pH and lower acid profile. Quite a different expression of carricante as sparkling while co-existing within the same Benanti family. Both wines feel like they really carry a purpose, including for what sector of the market they are looking to make their appeal. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Lamorèmio Brut Rosé Método Classico 2020, Terre Siciliane IGT

Like the Noblesse Brut this sees 24 months on the lees with nerello mascalese as a Rosato which comes away feigning sweetness more than the carricante, even though the sugar (at 5-ish g/L) is just about the same. Acid structure carries the sweetness and the weight, length is good and this is surely the more all-around style taht offers wide ranging appeal. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Fischetti Etna Spumante DOC Método Classico Brut Librato 2020

Made with just a small part of nerello mascalese from Contrada Muscamento for a total blanc de noir production of 500 bottles. Livrato is poetry, in ode to Michaela Luca’s mother who was an avid reader. Base wines are kept on lees with bâttonage and the wine also spends 30 months on the gross lees. High energy, sharp, pointed and full on tang, enough freshness but also some weight to be sure. Citrus makes a statement and without any dosage there should be a piercing effect but that’s simply not the case. Quite impressive sparkling for L’Etna. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Spumante DOC Brut Rosé Método Classico 2021

Lightest Rosato hue, in part because the Gelsomina style is all about clarity and freshness, as far away as possible from oxidation and especially autolysis. No brioche or yeast derivative aromas, just red fruit, primary and juicy. The lees aging time is minimum 36 months but the winemaking does everything possible to stay reductive and with minimum contacts or stagnancies. Rosato is a step more complex than Blanc de Noir if not quite as energetic. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Spumante DOC Brut Blanc de Noir Método Classico 2021

When Etna DOC added Spumante to the disciplinare 10 years ago Gelsomina (partner of Tenute Orestiadi) was ready and was amongst the first to bottle under the allowable labelling. The blend is 80 percent nerello mascalese and (20) nerello cappuccio, minimum 36 months on the lees. Brut at six g/L of residual sugar. Good thing the acidity is captured and kept because there is no shortage of flesh, fruit ripeness and creamy texture. Clean, fresh, accessible and well made. The choice is clear, to avoid autolytic notes and so the yeasty and bready style is for someone else. A Gelsomina is the exact opposite. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Spumante DOC Método Classico Brut

A 24 months on lees traditional method sparkling wine, disgorged in February 2024, Brut style. Feeling like 5-6 g/L of residual sugar, tart and ably if typically carricante. Fine bubble, tight and sure with a botanical component. Clean and just feels right with a cheese plate. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Etna Rosato DOC

Alessandro Serughetti Etna Rosato DOC Lunabuona 2022

In 2022 Alessandro and Loredana Serughetti chose to invest in a small 1960 planted vineyard at 680m on the North slope of L’Etna in the village is Rovittello, a suburb of Castiglione di Sicilia in Contrada Dafara Galluzzo. Their Rosato is 90 percent nerello mascalese with (10 combined) minella nera and bianca. A unique Rosé, equal parts salinity an sapidity which essentially translates to 100 percent volcanic. This is currently their largest volume sku at 1,600 bottles and with the extra year of aging it drinks beautifully, at peak and with grace today. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosato DOC 2023

From Rosso vineyards, looking for freshness and very little sugar but also low alcohol. Only steel, three months, bottled in February. Rich of fruit, salty, crunchy and for Rosato also complex. Tons of flavour, strawberry and some leafy savour. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May and September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosato DOC Mofete Rosato 2023

Energy noted straight away, a carbonic nerello mascalese buzz that drives Rosato to stand up and be noticed. Comes right at the senses, aromatically floral and palate treble tremble to pique interest and taste sensations. Full fruit and mineral working together for flavour and character. That’s what it’s all about . Last tasted September 2024

Equally fruity and vegetal, of red berries and peppers, a tartness and also lactic cheese note. Herbal as well and so complexity as Rosato if on the acquired taste side of style. Crunchy and salty, briny to a degree, naturally wild and free. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Rupestre Etna Rosato DOC 2023

So similar to the Terre Darrigo Rosato made by Rosario Raciti with 100 percent nerello mascalese fermented and simply allowed to go from vine to glass. The difference is location and terroir. What does that mean? Contrada Pietramarina fruit, salinity and acidity, grip and tension. Otherwise just the Rosato and mascalese facts. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosato DOC Tefra 2022

Aptly labeled “Vigne Custodite dalla Famiglia Tasca d’Almerita,” a statement to make sure we understand these nerello mascalese grapes are estate grown. Aromatic varietal volume, energy and spirit run high, yet most notable are the wealth and depth of flavours. Cherry moving into strawberry with a basic phenolic presence and that is very much all you want and need. Not a high acid Rosato, nor was that the intention. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosato DOC 2020

Only nerello mascalese from the lower and most vigorous part of the vineyard and grapes are chosen specifically for the Rosato. No wood like the white, once again to preserve the volcano’s effect on the wine, which is essential and when Rosato is made like this, also profound. This is a specific kind of salty, to Bosco’s vineyard and the mascalese that grows. Just three hours or less skin contact, quick maceration, no thought to colour, as with every wine in this portfolio, the place on Versante Nord is the heart of each and every matter. Already two years old, evolving very slowly and there is no reason to think it will not continue this way for another two or three more. Tranquility but also energy. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023 and September 2024

Terre Darrigo Etna Rosato DOC 2023

Only nerello mascalese as per the norm for Etna Rosato DOC and another salty little number with satisfying juiciness and grip. Direct, unadorned, almost no barrel, perhaps just a few percent. Straight fermentation, let it sit and ride. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

With Alberto Graci, Giuseppe Russo and John Szabo M.S.

Etna Bianco DOC

Alta Mora Etna Bianco DOC 2022

Nice and smoky Etna Bianco from Alta Mora though the fruit is equally adamant about gaining your trust. The smoulder equalized by the pulpy flesh of fresh bites into orchard fruit and a touch of finishing spice. Not the most complex but surely robust for the category. Last tasted May and September 2024

Solid and well made Etna Bianco in the ways of respect and tradition, ample, fulsome, substantial and structured for a wine that will drink well three-plus years forward. Citrus mainly, both lemon and lime, cool, not quite minty but surely like fresh summer basil and then a pinch of salt at the finish. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2024

Antichi Vinai 1877 Etna Bianco DOC Petralava 2023

Soda and neutral fruit intro which is par for the Etna Bianco course and certainly not unexpected. In other words mineral led, volcanic obviously and yet cool, gelid, mildly if sweetly botanical. A shot in the dark, unexpected and how can you not be thankful for a wine of this stature you knew nothing about. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi Etna Bianco DOC Outis 2022

Fruit up front but in a botanical way, less basaltic mineral salty and more sapid as a result. Still it carries a set of elements that conceptualize the Bianco, however the peachiness and sweet preserved citrus set this one up to be a mellow sort of affair. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi Etna Bianco DOC Chianta 2021

A more important label for Biondi and therefore aged an extra year ahead of release. Chianta the top Bianco cru and clearly a matter of longer maceration magnified by the extra aging. Not only noticed in hue but that natural salve texture settling while also dissolving nicely on the palate. A more interesting and satisfying iteration to speak credibly for the winemaking intent and also a matter of style. Then some crispiness and crunch to speak for captured and persistent freshness. Fine work. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2022

Sweetly aromatic waft in a memory of cotton candy at the fair sort of way. Palate tells another story, truly lemony and in a current one-dimensional phase. The carricante has gone into slumber, which is unsurprising and so best not to touch any bottles until the Spring of 2025. Last tasted September 2024

Reserved, not reductive but neither open nor gregarious. A smoulder of volcanics and wood aging, just an aromatic wisp of flint and notable verdancy. The greens are also driven by the place and Cavaliere gives in just this way. Low, slow and with a time lapse release of controlled power. Really quite remarkable Etna Bianco from this contrada. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Cottanera Etna Bianco DOC Calderara 2022

Calderara vineyards are 40-45 years of age and the harvest happens a week later, in the second week of October. Cement and large casks, 60-40, 10-12 months, brought back together and bottled. Saltier than the Bianco because the vineyard is so full of lava stone, a 100-plus year old eruption with brown basaltic stone. Very focused and precise though more power than 2021. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Donnafugata Etna Bianco DOC Sul Vulcano 2021

Quite a taut and wound Etna Bianco, not unusual for the vintage and though anything but lean – my this is tight. Mountain white in every respect and one of the finest if also precise Bianci ever produced at Donnafugata. Exemplary for the DOC, speaking to the mineral slats, elements and ways but also reasons for how lava flows have affected what will happen to vines farmed with industrious respect. Frames Etna Bianco in a serious if surely satisfying way. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted September 2024

Federico Curtaz Etna Bianco DOC Gamma 2021

Gamma is more aromatic than most with its mix of candied and floral but also spicy and so nasturtium or marigold are considered. The transitions are bold if seamless and the next stage is where things really take a turn to excitement. Moving away from the tight reduction and into bold flavours, variegated and layered, of fruit but of course minerals and elements that deduce then decide what an Etna Bianco is all about. Crisp, crunchy, biting and lengthy, all decidedly essential attributes of a rebel Bianco. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted September 2024

Firriato Cavanera Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Zottorinotto, Balza Delle Poiane 2022

Some reduction from a specific cru and designation, that being Cavanera Balza delle Poiane within the northerly contrada of Zottorinotto. Herbal as well, fresh sprung spring glade of ferns and wild allium, trillium and the local Ginestra. Plenty of substantial fruit and truthfully so much going on. As far as Etna Bianco is concerned this should be considered a big wine, the kind that can be enjoyed by lovers of full-bodied chardonnay. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Fischetti Etna Bianco DOC Muscamento 2022

Purchased the palmento in 2006, fully restored and what Michaela Luca calls “a very romantic place.” A Bianco called “Muscamento” (due to labelling bureaucracy) from the Contrada “Moscamento” at 650m on the northeast part of L’Etna. Just three hectares and 8,000-9,000 total production with this being the single-vineyard label. A blend, of 60 percent carricante and (40) catarratto. As floral as it gets for Etna Bianco with honeysuckle and ginger root. Lemon and lime flavours, clean, fresh and truly amenable. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Giovanni Rosso Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The work of Barolo’s Davide Rosso who came to L’Etna in 2016. Straightforward Bianco, neither predictive nor oxidative, tight or loose but somewhere comfortably in between. Goldilocks, between hard and soft, fruit and mineral, an equality of both. Solid, unassuming and yet perfectly representative Etna Bianco. Wood spirit and spice is felt on the back end. Rosso may need to make Bianco for 10 years before greatness arrives. His past work with chardonnay in Bourgogne can only serve to speed up the understanding of carricante. Would not put it past him to get there even sooner. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC Nerina 2023

Only Nerina, San Lorenzo and Feudo were made in 2023 due to a challenge from rain, mildew and less fruit availability. No worries about quality however and Nerina is about as full pulp-fleshy and developed as it has ever been. The acids travel up and down the sides of the palate in the ways of striking Etna Bianco and here Russo finds the road back, each and every time. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC Feudo 2023

New Bianco for Giuseppe Russo, a selection of 100 percent carricante from three hectares within the Feudo di Mezzo vineyard and contrada. Feudo is not San Lorenzo but it is something remarkable in its own right. More botanical and phenolic but also a level of citrus preserve not noted anywhere but Feudo. Crazy level of implosive citric intensity and taut character. The behaviour is so different to San Lorenzo with flavours that mean business in the most impressive way imaginable. Intensity off the charts, concentration so impressive, energy that builds and builds. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Bianco DOC Muganazzi 2022

“A wine of mystery,” says Alberto Graci, “very intriguing for me.” Flinty and scrubby at the same time, energy and vibrancy laying in waiting, a buzz behind the curtain and a soil purposed into the 100 percent carricante that Graci’s team and now also we know the wine will want to explode with flavours a year, or more rightly two from now. So tight but you can feel it, the linear nature looking ahead and time will bring about something social form that mystery. Unquestionably one of L’Etna’s finest ’22s. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Bianco DOC 2023

A mix of all four contradas; Muganazzi, Arcurìa, Feudo di Mezzo and Santo Spirito. A mix of Mediterranean scrub and vibrancy, looking for that balance between and finding it. Really fine precision and salinity, length is outstanding for villages level Bianco. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Bianco DOC 2023

Fruit is drawn from the steepest of slopes surrounding the pond within an amphitheatre that is an extinct volcanic crater on the Gelsomina property. Tiny micro-climate within the 15 hectares of the estate, mainly carricante (80 percent) with a smaller portion of cattaratto, neutral and primary when this young, needing time to find its expression. Again the clarity and freshness are proper but the neutrality makes it hard to see where this will go and what it will become. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Bianco DOC 2022

The 80 percent carricante with (20) cattaratto grows on the steepest of slopes within the estate’s amphitheatre in surround of a natural pond that are all part an extinct volcanic crater on the Gelsomina property. A small micro-climate inside of 15 hectares for a Bianco fruit forward and when young, so easy to drink. Unsurprising to find this perfectly clean, fresh and direct, a matter of just five months in stainless steel. Perfect for the many and the willing. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Massimo Lentsch Etna Bianco DOC 2023

Sweet aromatic perfumes, candied florals and white peach per se, a preserved lemon edging to limoncello. Lemony flavours, fine, simple and preparative to set the Bianco up for a modicum of representative success. Good and plenty but not quite exciting, complex or wholly substantial. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Serena and Valeria Costanzo – Palmento Costanzo

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Bianco Di Sei 2022

A cuvée of all parcels from different contrade, including the homefront Santo Spirito, along with Cavaliere. On average 90 percent carricante with (10) catarratto. Only raised in stainless steel, persistently fresh and if any region in the world might be compared with it would be Chablis AOC, direct, salty, smart and widely purposed. Last tasted September 2024

Just have to say wow because Bianco di Sei comes equipped with a level of intensity that was not quite expected from 2022. Not so much a volume or an explosion aromatically speaking but an extreme set of eccentricities that crash aboard the palate. Likely needing some rest and down time to integrate because the level of extract here (including volcanic activity) is simply off the charts. Etna incarnate, pointed and exciting. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2022

High level aromatic volume and concentration from Santo Spirito ’22 and we know right away that this wine knows exactly who it is, where it comes from and where it wants to go. Volcanic salts are also present on the nose from a Bianco of great stage presence and such a smart textural weave that gains every bit of the palate’s confidence. The connection is prescient, reaction calming and conclusion poignant. This is how you make and present Contrada-specific Etna Bianco. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2021

Note the colour of the lava soil on the label, lighter brown for Santo Spirito, from the contrada vineyard at 700m on the northern slope that comprises one out of three “islands within the island” of L’Etna. Still just an infant, implosive and insular, wound so tight, yet to explode. Give this another year, just as the first taste had indicated for months prior. Last tasted September 2024

A fine vintage and and even finer Contrada, that being Santo Spirito where carricante (and 10 percent cattarrato) are given every soil, geological and micro-climatic advantage. There is an accumulation of ripeness and stone cool mineral groove from location and acumen that make this move with incremental ability. It will slowly define itself over along period of time that will be fascinating to watch every step of the way. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2021

Note the colour of the lava soil on the label, darker brown for Cavaliere, from the contrada vineyard at 700m in the southwest “island” of L’Etna. A different expression to that of Santo Spirito, volumetric in terms of aromatics and less austere or rather locked tight. Here more sapid and botanical, less basaltic salinity and fleshier early on. More fruit forward, pulpy stone fruit like, amenability run higher and the Contrada-designate Bianco to drink while waiting for Santo Spirito to mature. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Papa Maria Cuore Di Marchesa Etna Bianco DOC Cuore Di Marchesa 2022

From Contrada Marchesa near Solicchiata at 750m, a property through Pietro Giovanni’s father-in-law with vines around 100 years old, of the passion and at the heart of the contrada. As unique as it gets for Etna Bianco, 100 percent carricante, ripe yet certainly not honeyed and wood a driver with a white cocoa note that alters perception at a certain level. Some savour as well, brushy style, curious and raising the overall levels of interest. The flavours and textures combine for substantial, if also layered appeal. This may turn secondary sooner rather than later but the level of intersecting interest should only increase. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Bianco DOC Archineri 2022

Archinieri comes at us with that Pietradolce mix of confidence and generosity because well, vineyards and expertise. A Bianco that must be great because the makers demand top quality from field to table and all the markers here are present, defined and accounted for. Ideal reasoning, seasoning and style. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May and September 2024

Planeta Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Taccione 2022

A singular Bianco labeled within Contrada Taccione for Planeta’s cantina located in Feudo di Mezzo and when you are the sole (known) contributor you make, transmit and valourize the rules. Pulp, acumen and circumstance establish and disperse layers of lava-fueled feelings, initiate discourse and bring about results to say this is Etna Bianco of balance and mountain reform. Not the acid intensity of some, nor the flowery pot gratuity of others. Nor does it reside indiscriminately or disinterestedly in between – no it makes a great pronouncement of elevation, mountain experience and intention. Exceptional Etna Bianco. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Quantico Etna Bianco DOC 2018

A few years have passed but my how this 2018 has hung onto its freshness despite some skin contact involved in the early process. Maturity is recognized in the platinum gold hue, subtle caramelization and next level developing complexities. May not keep for several years more but at nearly six years of age it is special. Last tasted September 2024

Just two years older than the ’20 and a marked difference, especially in aromatics. Much warmer year but the exotica and tropical fruit really stand out in this 2018. Cherry blossom, lime cordial and a litchi or longan effect, almost feeling boozy but the alcohol (at 13 percent) is the same as 2020. That said the palate is much more similar, less advanced and feeling fresher. Lots of fruit here, full of energy with a long lasting impression. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Rupestre Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The private label of Terre Darrigo winemaker Rosario Raciti grown in the Contrada of Pietramarina and vinified in the company’s cantina. Only carricante and an old lava flow location with 14 year-old vines planted by Rosario’s father. A unique saltiness and mineral intensity clearly attributed to the contrada despite the young age of the vines. Lean, direct and pointed, sharp and just the beginning of the story. Only 8,000 bottles in 2023. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Bianco DOC Buonora 2023

Only carricante and just has that look of a wine you expect to be extremely cold when it’s really a matter of a strong, sweetly phenolic presence. Herbal, like basil granita and a different sort of salinity owing to the specificity of Tascante’s Pianodario gravelly volcanic sands. Also owing to harvest time after a most challenging vintage which gave smaller, more concentrated berries with high skin to pulp ratios. Sees only stainless steel, for good reason and the effect triples down on this Bianco’s style. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Sciaranuova 2022

Vinified and aged in Slavonian Grandi Botti, “to preserve the verticality and freshness of the carricante” explains Tasca d’Almerita agronomist Michele Brusaferri. Plays hard to get and acts demure inside the halls of its aromatic silence but you know that the elevation and fine basaltic soil are the portents of Tascante’s main Contrada Sciaranuova that will see to conditions for change. Though soft you feel the wood, present with confidence yet the thread of cool, herbal and botanical rins from Buonora into this Bianco. Fruit will soon peek through and announce a scintillant’s arrival, blossoms too, namely orange and then to salty lime later on. Just takes some air, agitation and swirl to coax out the excitement and up into the stratosphere. Turns out to be crunchy and seriously salty Etna Bianco, like flakes of Maldon or Slovenian platinum for what can best be described as living the high seasoned life of Etna Bianco. Structure is there and so this should age quite well. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Sciaranuova 2016

The 2016 carricante takes the ’22 tasted alongside to another extreme. Now a return to a full blown aromatically romanticized effect with honey, orange blossom, sweet concentrated herbs, then into a downy, mature and creamy softness. Curious if well past prime with no good reason to complain about a Bianco conceived during its earlier stages of experimentation and understanding. You can tell the first two to three years would have had no problem convincing of greatness within the style it was made. Tasted September 2024

Marc de Grazia – Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The Santo Spirito area has traditionally been devoted to Rosso and so grapes need to be brought in to make the Etna Bianco. Not 100 percent carricante yet the single contrada whites are. Remember that old vineyards would house five to seven percent white grapes and so here 20-30 percent would include minella, cattaratto, inzolia and grecanico. There is a gelid solidity to the texture and structure, inclusive of the white grapes hand-plucked out of the red vineyards. Makes for a complicated yet complex cuvée, not about parochial purity but instead an assemblage that speaks to bio and varietal diversity. There is notable extract and even some tannin involved for a Bianco you would want to drink every single day. With thanks to salinity that does the work from acidity. If only there were more of 2023, but such is the nature of farming in adversarial vintages. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco DOC Calderara Sottana 2023

“Such a stunning vineyard that I believe will actually improve the Calderara,” says Marc de Grazia. Where Bianco can help to elevate the Rosso by association and osmosis. A carricante with more volume and depth than the wines from the south and east of L’Etna but we know many will not only appreciate but also prefer the style of those Bianci grown in warmer areas. As such the Calderara Sottana sees barrel fermentation, in 350L tonneaux and 10 hL foudres. Now we are getting into a Bourgogne comparison, Meursault first and foremost though some will consider Premier Cru, Right bank Chablis, Fourneaux coming to mind more than most. In the end all that matters is finding the sweet spot in every vintage to express place, in terms of wood size, time and methodology used. We can be reminded that Dibourdieu is a big influence on de Grazia, for whatever that is worth. “If you don’t have a compass it’s not sailing, it’s what Dibourdieu called vagabondage. You need to have an idea of the answer you’re looking for.” Drink 2025-2032. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco DOC Montalto 2023

Montalto, “high mountain,” a 950m plot on L’Etna’s southern slope. Another Bianco that does not like being fermented in wood and so steel only aids and abets to maintain carricante purity. For the first time a Terre Nere white just feels truly salty, mineral extraction expressed through Bianco, as opposed to elemental sapidity. “You have to go higher as the heat increases,” says Marc de Grazia, “to extract perfumes and find acidity.” There is a savoury honeyed aspect that reminds of chenin blanc and the length is determined by old vines. Silex again which takes a mind to Loire more than Chablis. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Di Fessina Etna Bianco DOC A’Puddara 2022

Reductive in a most protective, protractive and progressive way because the burst of citrus screamed forth is seriously intensive. Well yes but it would behoove one to think in terms of elements and minerals over more than merely fruit. Wild and frantic even, excitability factor run off the charts and the palate, not to mention spirit seriously awakened. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The ’23 Etna Bianco artist formerly known as Piano Dei Daini comes out of a hard vintage because of rain in June with some Perenospera issues, “but the carricante can handle the attack” explains Sofia Ponzini. No loss of fruit, harvest and vinification all together very much in a field blend way. The ten percent endemic varieties settle the carricante, neutralize its power and make for a most wholesome but always elegant Etna Bianco. A rinse of salty sea air meets Macchia Mediterranea. Sofia ends up happy but admits the wine needs bottle time, to sleep a bit, calm the energy and the power. Vibrancy is needy, crunchiness too, feel of the volcano so crucial and so all that is great but the drippy phenolic presence needs taming. That’s what time will effect. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May and September 2024

Terra Costantino Etna Rosso DOC d’Aetna 2023

Presumably a mix of of Blandano and Praino, which incidentally seem to be siblings from two different mothers and so the deAetna label is a blend in two-parts. More Praino is would seem, gelid and cool, a lemon-yellow plum granita of an Etna Bianco. Fine and solid enough though quite generalized as a local, eastern side of Etna expression. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Terra Costantino Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Blandano 2019

A few years now in bottle and so this 2019 has developed next level style, further character and stage presence. Honeyed and luxe, acids sweetened with a lively if sour edge and then comes that extract that urged the totality from the start. A fine and confident wine with time on its side and a healthy perspective for Etna Bianco as the kind to serve at dinners and tastings all over the world. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May and September 2024

Terre Darrigo

Terre Darrigo Etna Bianco DOC 2023

A stone’s throw down the mountain is Lingualossa, of a terroir above 500 and upwards to 600m in a natural amphitheatre taken over by the Bacci family from a bankrupt farm and in disrepair. Restored to a beautifully rustic terraced set of vineyards set between the volcano and the sea. Salty carricante indeed with phenolic grip and yet acidity keeps the drive alive. So little was made because of a hailstorm in the first week of May that took out most of the vines even before rains and Perenospera mildew arrived to attack much of Etna’s northern vineyards. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Theresa Eccher Etna Bianco DOC Alizée 2021

As per the vintage and an estate taking full advantage this is quite ripe and open-knit Etna Bianco, simplified and moving forward into maturity with haste. Comes away with a bit of bitterness and honeyed savour but otherwise drinks well enough. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC 2023

Tornatore has simply, unequivocally and decidedly defined the genre that is Etna Bianco for world markets at an affordable price. The 2023 vintage was not so easy to do this way because mildew pressure and low yields were the obstacle. And yet like so many the acids are intense to insure true Etna mountain spirit is elevated as it needs be. This does precisely what wants and needs for a $25-30 Bianco. All must partake and become believers in what is possible. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC Pietrarizzo 2022

Pietrarizzo is both available and confident, not idiosyncratic like Zottorinotto and also richer of fruit. There is an herbal and botanical way about this cru Bianco with splashes of catarratto bringing seasoning to the carricante. A bit spicy and even humid though the fruit is the thing and the volcanics an accent making for even more spice entertained. Such a solid Contrada based Bianco. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted and September 2024

Torre Mora Etna Bianco DOC Chiuse Vidalba 2022

An Etna Bianco on the extreme volcanic side because the aromas and flavours just feel like sucking on a mouthful of basaltic lozenges. Cool, gelid and distinctly mineral on the outside, liquid ethereal and almost mentholated within. Don’t come looking for a burst of fruit, not by citrus, stone nor orchard though there is this green melon note coming late. Nor is this a high acid example, but also not so very botanical. Just bloody volcanic – which speaks to Chiuse Vidalba. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May and September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Carricante Sciare Vive 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Part of the production is from a vineyard located outside of the allowable (if arbitrarily and self-serving organization of geographic definition) for the DOC regulations. Yet the fruit from these 40 year-old carricante vines are special to Carmelo Vecchio. His is a true to real volcanic life skin-contact Bianco without the slings, constraints and arrows of pedagogical natural wine. Just the methodological facts to capture, elevate and celebrate the purity of grape variety come from where it lives. A well made example is a thing of beauty and in this case, a premise of perfection. Sapidity wins out over salinity and yet your palate may figure to feel more of the latter. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Carricante Sciare Vive 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

Tasted side by side with the 2022 (and also 2016) but here the extra year on a skin contact carricante solicits the first stage of age development. Just on the nose really, quite honeyed with a Ginestra savoury spice and a vague saffron note considered. More so honeysuckle when you combine the two and so there feels like a connection, re-imaging or re-imagining of chenin blanc. Palate presence lingers and length is befitting of ’22. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Piè Franco Carricante – Terre Darrigo

Etna Bianco Superiore

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Bianco Superiore DOC 2023

Aromatic volume is turned up through the combination of vintage and Superiore designation which both repeats and magnifies the great fleshy chew for the accessorized palate. Some greens here though they are sweet to commit and then induce satisfaction. Also a great basaltic saltiness that causes this Bianco to linger long after you thought it might not and you are extremely grateful for the extension. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted September 2024

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Villagrande 2021

Just two years older than the ’23 Superiore (classico) and here the Contrada-specific Etna Bianco maintains freshness while defending the integrity of its municipal steading. This is a reduced volcanic saltiness but even more so it speaks to being a mountain wine in the most credible of ways. Rich and expressive, so finely tart and just so very impressive. Stays with your palate for minutes on end and for that you say brava. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted September 2024

Salvino Benanti – Viticoltori Benanti

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Pietramarina 2019

A current release which follows the Benanti rule of waiting four-plus years. Only stainless and already hinting at aromatic volume but also length, with petrol coming around the corner. Kind of in the vein of say riesling but even more so sémillon and more Hunter Valley than Bordeaux in that regard. Acidity is obviously lower and phenolics broader – but you get the drift. Will gain curiosity, if at the expense of freshness but that feels like the Superiore point. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Calcagno Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Primazappa 2022

Important if also essential mountain label for Calcagno in Superiore clothing and ’22 shines brightly, even if this is not the summit of summits as far as vintage is concerned. No conceding or submissive behaviour mind you and instead great spirit, energy and vitality. Crisp bites of orchard fruit doused under lemon-lime citrus for real spark. A scintillant Etna Bianco with some fine chiseling and structured for aging. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted September 2024

Federico Curtaz Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Kudos 2021

Kudos is far more botanical than that of Gamma, of green herbs and some herbaceous meanderings. More tonic and fine bitters though truthfully lemon in so many ways with some pith and it tastes like roasted Greek lemon potatoes. A second bottle seems to ramp up the intensity though things stay relatively the same. Superiore is a different animal and it feels like Curtaz has gone a bit more pied du cuve natural in the approach. Surely not an accidental wine and the jury stays out, not hung, but not making a final decision. Will do so after tasting another bottle, preferably sooner rather than later. Tasted September 2024

Fischetti Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Rocca d’Alba 2022

First kick at the Fischetti can and it must be said where have these wines been in this life? In others’ glasses and now here for a look at possible grandezza. Big attempt at extraction, squeezing every bit of 100 percent carricante juice which means tomato leaf and water, but also acetic belief. Old wood is very present and leads the feels for a rustic Bianco that may not exactly find precision, nor finesse neither, but its character is built from soil, soil, soil. The earth is all in and it translates with the aforementioned acetic tang. Just 700 bottles are produced. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted twice, September 2024

I Custodi Delle Vigne Dell’Etna Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Imbris Contrada Caselle 2020

Varietal carricante at 800m fermented in steel, put to barrel and then one year in bottle. So much corporeal flesh on the body of a seriously developed Bianco. Has come into a fine place but my goodness so much texture, citrus and length. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

Maugeri Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Volpare 2023

Youthful is the understatement and Volpare the name, so say it loud. This is indeed singular Etna Bianco, as they should be but some are in a league of their own, as Mugeri’s eastern wines clearly are. The estate has taken it to the next level with an ascension of elevated mountain fortuity but also depth determined by terroir which can only be transmitted when agriculture abides. Abides because the maker makes it happen and Volpare delivers generously while also with precision and finesse. Leave this for 18 months or more to settle the relationship between rocks and acidity. After tasting Frontebosco and also Frontemare you realize the latter is the true catalyst to propel this cuvée selection. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Maugeri Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Volpare Frontebosco 2023

Versante est which separates Mugeri from not just the north but also the south and the future will surely look to this area for greatness. Not only Volpare contrada but a section within, here called Frontebosco, as in facing or in front off the forest and so the herbals here within are assumed to be elected by the nearby woods. Makes for freshness but also a fruit fleshiness that the more general Volpare does not show. A full, substantial and impressive Etna Bianco that might just appeal to everyone. Superiore indeed. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Maugeri Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Praino Frontemare 2023

Frontemare, “facing the sea,”as opposed to Frontebosco, “facing the wood.” As such this would be east facing from Etna’s east sector and so the block with the view creates a unicorn of an Etna Bianco as fascinating as it seemingly gets. The most crisp, crunchy, fresh and intense of Mugeri’s whites, citrus squeezed throughout and long as the zig-zagging wind of a single road down to Catania and into the sea. Just wow, with layers upon layers to unreel, unfurl and unroll for a long aging period ahead. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Salice 2023

Only carricante from the the town of Milo, five year-old vines in the place where more rain falls and reds can not really be made. No more than 1000 hectares of vineyard farmed by 20 producers recently and collectively coming into its own. Wines now made by high profile estates including Barone di Villagrande, Benanti and Marc de Grazia. Soils are unique, having come from the collapse odf the side of the volcano’s east side. Deep, fractured and then also shallow soils so compact it’s hard for roots to penetrate. Less humid as a result and the best for ripening carricante. Exposure is key because the sun disappears behind the mountain earlier than most, though says de Grazia, “650-750m is the sweet spot. Adding “a challenge but not a suicide.” Extremely steep, two years to rebuild the terraces and here is the result. Imagine the views of the Ionian Sea with a glass, wildflowers everywhere and a sapidity so different to the gifts of the northern slope. Salice is the willow and that weeping only adds to the demure, but in a botanical, mellow and properly astringent way. Just like silex, but volcanic from a wine with no wood in play. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Di Fessina Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Il Musmeci Bianco 2021

Il Muscemi Bianco is another matter altogether because of two aspects. More taut reserve instigated by reductively protected ability plus an aromatic accountability that screams “mountain wine!” Scintillant behaviour, a bit eccentric mind you but how one could not be amused if clearly enthralled with the intensity. Once again we speak of volcanics and mysterious elements with fruit out of the conversation because it was picked early and with acidity in total mind, but in the end the lava matters most. Needs years to settle in, especially because of the need to assimilate its wood. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Terra Costantino Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Praino 2022

Eastern slope on Etna, in the town of Milo where only here the Etna Bianco can be labeled with the addendum “Superiore.” From young five year-old carricante vines grown on Alberello at 650m by Fabio Stantino and his family where the conditions are more humid, namely because of the closer proximity to the sea. Cool, gelid and stylish. The kind of Etna Bianco with that mineral, gemstone quality while also one of the more yellow-fleshed fruit pulpy examples juiced by Sicilian orange. Gets white pepper and mango powder exotic at the humid finish. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May and September 2024

Etna Rosso

Alice Bonaccorsi Etna Rosso DOC Valcerasa Rosso 2019

Truly ripe cherry, maturing and for Bonaccorsi’s Rosso surely well into the drinking zone. Wealth of cloying oak, resins and overripe behaviour mean that zone should already be behind us. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Alta Mora Etna Rosso DOC Feudo Di Mezzo 2020

Middle ground traveled and promise delivered for the large Feudo di Mezzo as Contrada sizes come, with fruit able to defend itself against generous wood though all parts launch a collective attack on the senses and palate. Big Rosso for Etna, strong boned and willed with the intention to impress. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2024

Alta Mora Etna Rosso DOC Guardiola 2020

Big barrel feel on Guardiola from Alta Mora and some fruit maturity to say the twain is yet to be abridged. As high toned as Rosso will come, red fruit swells and a dusty volatility that reminds of Rioja. Just feels akin to aging in American wood. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Alessandro and Loredana Serughetti

Alessandro Serughetti Etna Rosso DOC Venturo 2022

Only 700 bottles were made of Alessandro Serrugheti’s Venturo, which transliterates to “next” and generationally speaking that is exactly what he and wife Loredona are to L’Etna. Their corner of Rovitello is rich in volcanic ingredients, of potassium, iron, and magnesium in the lava flow soils of their old (and qualifiedly historic) nerello mascalese vineyard. Alessandro dates them back 60 years and admits there to be a few cappuccio plants mixed in for one of his first attempts at Rosso that is simply grippy, liquid chalky, textural, structured and brimming with dark fruit. Ages 10 months in tonneaux. It’s basically a profound basaltic matter of this place within the greater volcanic place. Greatness is coming. Coming up next. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted September 2024

Antichi Vinai 1877 Etna Rosso DOC Petralava 2019

Floral with a pretty perfume of fruit to join along and the effect is a fête for the olfactory senses. Neither lithe nor delicate in terms of flavour profile and punch yet the substantial and layered effect is something notable. Just a smidgen overdressed and no, subtlety is not the middle name but overall there are fine and appreciable aspects if this Rosso to get behind. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi Etna Rosso DOC San Nicolo’ 2022

San Nicolo’ steps up more than a tier in Etna Rosso terms as compared to Outis because its freshness and fragrance are that much more intense. This smells like Etna should, with southeastern slope warmth behind its ripeness and acidity acting as the driver for that freshness. Still it presents a challenge to sort through and figure out the how, what and why. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi Etna Rosso DOC Outis 2017

Notable wood on the nose, spiced and like the Bianco also savoury in an herbal-botanical way. Suits the fruit though the aromas lower, deepen into baritone and struggle to rise up with ease. The barrel is very involved with the flavours and somewhat unrelenting though one should not question the substance of this Rosso. Then again it’s already five to six years of age and so maturity will now beget declension. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Truly pretty Rosso perfume yet the palate’s hard shell is candied and a bit cloying. The barrel is used in a symptomatic way, driving the fruit to places it may not have wished to go. The combination of that and volatility not in check leads this down and artificial and medicinal path, as a result. The ’21 Bianco Superiore is glorious but the Rosso is a miss. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Monte Ilice 2020

Monte Illice 2022 is in better steading than the Rosso 2021 because its volatile compounds lay low and do much less to distract from the prize. Still the use of wood is heavy and so a resinous but also emulsified feeling is ascertained. Not quite soy but certainly lactic and creamy. A much better wine however and one that will age well over a five-plus year run. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Serra Della Contessa Alberello Centenario 2018

Benanti Viticoltori was founded in 1988, one of the pioneers on L’Etna. Two Piedmontese oenologists, Gian Domenico Negro and Marco Monchiero, along with Prof. Rocco Di Stefano of the Experimental Institute for Oenology in Asti and Prof. Jean Siegrist of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique of Beaune combined to exert profound influence on Giuseppe Benanti and his wines. Oenological consultancy has molded and developed Benanti’s wines, from Salvo Foti to Enzo Calli, now with Benanti for 25 years. Serra Della Contessa is a field blend of the two nerello out of a 100-plus year-old bush vine vineyard (documents say 1910s), own grafted and original, bit of a unicorn for Benanti and a pioneer, just like Giuseppe Benanti. Not labeled as pre-phylloxera because “it’s difficult to prove,” but surely from resistant vines. The same vineyard (Monte Serra) also makes for a Contrada wine from the younger vines. Large barrels for two years, one in tank and then finally two in bottle, not unlike a Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. There is a chalkiness and serious structure here but the Grandi Botti do little to distract, thicken or overarch any semblance of density to this blend. Serra della Contessa dates back to the countess that owned the state in 1472. Cleary one of not only L’Etna’s but all of Sicily’s most important structured and age-worthy red wines. Would love to see this agin in 2033. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Rovitello Alberello Centenario 2018

From North Etna, as opposed to the sister Serra della Contessa label that comes from the home-front vineyard on the mountain’s southeast slope. Picked two weeks later from a cooler location and still the same concept, that being a field blend of nerello mascalese and cappuccio, planted in the 1920s and yes it’s possible there are other varieties mingling in the ancient material of these bush vines. Essentially pre-phylloxera and here Rovitello is softer and cooler, almost gelid and less warmth meets weight, though Monte Serra is not what you would call a wine of density. The acids, harmony and understatement are really fine but to be honest the Contessa is showing better and with more impressive structure today. And yet Rovitello is a magnificent red blend from old DNA in its own-right. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted September 2024

Viticoltori Benanti

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Monte Serra 2022

From L’Etna’s southeastern sector on the mountain’s semi-circle and one of fine if also light glycerol texture. Truly pretty and delicate for Rosso, the kind we tell people about in the way we often describe pinot noir from the Côtes de Beaune. This is indeed as closely resembling that kind of varietal-appellation relationship as any on this volcanic mountain. Really fine, precise and softening though structure is not a problem. The feels are of older lava flows and how they effect nerello mascalese. Obviously not pinot noir. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Calderara Sottana 2022

Benanti is not just a southeastern Etna specialist but an estate that wrote the book on the making of fine, precise, finessed and structured wines from that sector aboard the mountain. There is more power (albeit restrained) from northern slope Calderara Sottana and a sense of rich chalky liquidity that speaks to the age of lava flows and how vines are raised on older volcanic soils. Also the 700m of elevation and a place that works best with nerello mascalese, especially with north-facing plantings. The transmission is purposed, trenchant and near formidable. More chewy texture here and more favourably or gainfully nerello mascalese but when you think of it alongside Monte Serra than the options laid out are yours to choose. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted September 2024

Franco and Giusi Calcagno

Calcagno Etna Rosso DOC Calderara 2021

Ah such an intoxicant of Calderara perfume coaxed and on exhibit just the way we would hope it should. Mind you there is some wood to deal with though high standard used will become quality worth resolved. More liquid chalky an Etna Rosso than many but again the execution will beget harmony because the wine is already expressive and frankly distinguished right there. Give this promising 2021 another 18 months and its canto will warble harmonic, pure and long. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted September 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosso DOC Diciassettesalme 2022

Solo nerello mascalese, made with the grapes from all three Contradas, 10 months in steel, followed by six months in bottle. Dictionary entry though it’s just the first vintage of this specific Rosso without Cappuccio. These are nerello plants grafted onto the old cappuccio and to be honest there is more purity and focus this way. Spicier, in a way and more energy. Will take a few vintages to find its solo artist stride. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Feudo Di Mezzo 2020

Only nerello mascalese from 35 year-old vines, big barrel for 14 months. Even though Feudo di Mezzo is the largest Etna Nord contrada there is such consistency and a thread of wine effect that runs through the 20-plus producers. Cottanerà heeds and abides by the vineyard to produce a balanced FdM worthy of the name. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Zottorinoto 2019

Nerello Mascalese

Plants are 85 years of age on four hectares but this wine is a selection from three tonnes of grapes to make only 1,800-2,000 bottles. Riserva, so it remained in cask for two years plus two more in bottle. Depth, breadth, spices and richness, the most full bodied and textural Rosso, tannins sweet and long-chained with time still needed to resolve all that is here. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted May and September 2024

Donnafugata Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Marchesa 2020

Marchesa 2020 seems to tell a contrada story in a most positive light with its effusive, fresh and yet also concentrated way. A specific style to be sure and a layered one but those layers are closely knit with their weave of ultra specific fibre. There is some reduction which is not a surprise and then some good old-fashioned structure to see this age quite admirably. A different charm and a good one from this well made Rosso. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Federico Curtaz Etna Rosso DOC Il Purgatorio 2020

Bold and trenchant Etna Rosso from the one and only legend that is Federico Curtaz and one to take great time getting to know. Ripe to be sure but also acids in stride with fruit influenced by Etna’s newer (relatively speaking) northern lava flows providing the freshness and finesse. There are some herbaceous moments that put this in a savoury place and in the end the diversity and complexity renders this a potent while oh so intriguing iteration of Etna Rosso. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted September 2024

Federico Curtaz Etna Rosso DOC Il Pukkaria 2020

Consistency and a thread of similarity runs from Purgatorio through Pukkaria but the latter is not the bold expression that is the former. Sweeter perfume, more glycerol texture and emulsified acidity make this closer to the heart and without the same level of grip by structure. Still the herbal-herbaceous feels are there and some reduction to hold a part of the wine back. Give it a year and the ties that bind will loosen to free this wine of brine and tang. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2024

Federico Graziani Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Pretty much what they call Classico as far as Etna Rosso is concerned with a nerello mascalese of concentration yet delicate and shiny enough to speak generally if abidingly for an appellation. Wood is not nothing and will need some time to melt in but this is clearly a Rosso for Rosso sake, raised properly and equipped to live comfortably. A five year example that could be poured for anyone to explain the combination of style, varietal and place. Feels just a bit natural with faint Brettanomyces noted in the end. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Federico Graziani Etna Rosso DOC Rosso Di Mezzo 2022

A sturdy and well wooded Rosso from Feudo di Mezzo labeled as Rosso di Mezzo because why not though the nomenclature could suggest a second wine to some. Like Rosso di Montalcino or even lesser, Rosso di Toscana. We know the intent but when you look at some other Italian denominations this becomes somewhat perplexing. In any case this travels down the middle of the Mezzo road (wink, wink) to deliver a Rosso of medium body, acidity, structure and finish. On par with Graziani’s Rosso DOC, both good wines though with little to distinguish between the two. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Fischetti Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Gran Conte 2014

An alberello-trained, pre-phylloxera nerello mascalese of century vines. A survivalist, having been through at least one world war. A mature, oxidative and fully resolved Rosso in secondary character with no going back. Gifts that old Amarone feel without the jam or density, but age has put this in a known time frame for they who fully appreciate old wines. Freshness is not part of the package. This ’14 is the current release and once again 700 bottles are produced. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Frank Cornelissen Etna Rosso DOC Munjebel 2021

As per the explanation of the erudite gentleman from Houston (by way of San Diego) the meaning of Munjebel informs us to be a “dialectal toponym for Mt. Etna and by the way akin to the Sicilian Muncibeddu or the Italian Mongibello, meaning monte bello or beautiful mountain.” And so it truly is in Etna Rosso form, of a purity and clarity that bemuses but also pleases us so. Chewy Rosso with that natural settling on the palate like a savoury salve slowly dissolving without dissipating or disappearing from consciousness. Stays with our thoughts and feelings for a good long time. Fine 2021, as expected and confirmed without a single moment of having conformed. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Giovanni Rosso Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Quite the bright and ultra fresh nerello mascalese number with what feels like fruit taken from young and impressionable vines, and as of yet to deliver full out structure. Easy access, fresh and free drinking, no big questions posed and a Rosso that simply drinks really well. The length and consistent presence of flavours and textures speak to the maker’s affinity with mutually relatable red varieties, in this case nerello’s spiritual and physiological connection to nebbiolo. Then again Davide Rosso’s work with both Domaine Jean Grivot and Domaine Denis Mortet have no doubt influenced and introduced the treatment of pinot noir towards his work with mascalese. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC ‘A Rina 2022

A very warm and dry vintage making for a taut, chalky and savoury nerello mascalese (with 10 percent cappuccino). This next ‘a Rina takes off where 2021 left off and only Feudo is as consistent an Etna Rosso as this. Chalky red cherry, a leathery aspect and drying tannins that speak about 2022 in both toasty and positive ways. Crisp ’22, of bay and liquorice, salty volcanics and good length, though not in the league of Feudo and San Lorenzo. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May and September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo 2022

The gifts of San Lorenzo are of a slow release ilk the other cru and vineyards of Girolamo Russo are not, but this from 2022 is so full of riches it brings early joy. A great pleasure to have a glass even now with gregarious perfume and readied flavours, of red berries, liquid chalky to candied palate swaths and immediacy from this bottle of wine. San Lorenzo shows off the most glyercol and silken texture – it’s almost candied but of course it’s not. Spicy on the back side, sneakily structured and all the while with a glass we’re feeling fine. Can only improve and integrate with a couple of years time. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May and September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC Feudo 2022

From the highest section in the Feudo di Mezzo vineyard, bush vines, very old. Delivers ultra light and conversely powerful di Mezzo freshness, but from this elevation at a much higher rate and with an extension of vibrancy plus energy. More verticality and sweetness of nerello fruit like almost no other. Resides in a state of grace upon the palate and though it hovers just a millimetre above, there still feels like the fruit, acidity and finest tannin are collectively making full contact. Remarkable. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Rosso DOC 2022

From estate vineyards at 650-750m, fermented and aged for 18 months in concrete though once in a while a little bit of big barrel is used. Linear, stoic, restrained and serious Etna Rosso for Rosso’s sake but also trenchant intention. Crispy and crunchy, vertical and youthful. Fresh, even a bit reductive, so peppery and a year away from that open window. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa 2021

The home vineyard, great vintage and that should not be questioned because frankly it simply can’t be denied. If nothing else the intensity of purpose comes through from the start. More depth and crunch, further concentration and breadth, still austere and working through its tasks, machinations and intentions. Big wine from 2021. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa Sopra Il Pozzo 2019

Longer maceration because these are stems that ripen better than anywhere else and so Alberto Graci tastes and decides how long to go. Usually 60 days and 2019 was right around that number. You can feel them, mostly though not 100 percent ripe and yet that savoury-verdant note works so well to create a spice mix and seasoning that extends the breadth of the fruit. Do not come here for heavy concentration or weight because there is restraint but also expect some austerity. Really needs time and will eventually settle into it’s technicolor skin. A compact wine that will deliver a slow release of energy. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted May and September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Rosso DOC 2021

A blend of 80 percent nerello mascalese with (20) nerello cappuccio, raised in 500L cask. Ascends with warm grape must character, fresh fig and tree pod fruit. On the warmer and darker side for Etna Rosso, already into some maturity with an almost Ripasso-like feel on the palate. Less typicity for Etna Rosso without a real sense of place. Either the grapes need to be picked (even) earlier or the winemaking will need to scale back and press as gentle as possible. Times have changed. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Massimo Lentsch Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Spice and resins on the aromatics, wood-derived and unresolved. Earthiness, of fresh laid sod and a chalky undercut of stone. A bit rustic, as they say. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted September 2024

Sebastiano Vinci – Mecori

Mecori Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Muganazzi Duo 2022

They are Serena & Sebastiano, Mecori’s “Duo,” reiterated from the special Muganazzi Contrada and vines planted in 1927 as a reductive one, protected and insular, unresolved and therefore undefined. Air is a friend of this nerello mascalese from one (soon to be two and a half) hectares and agitation an even more important accomplice to release what charm lays low and behind. There is real richness and layering beneath the shell which more than accidentally and incidentally defines the contrada and what it can achieve. Spicy and spiced, chalky, massively tannic and the kind of structure few Etna Rosso are wont to hold. A big wine so far away from ready, currently grippy and austere, tension in charge and time the operative to effect any kind of significant change. Average production is 4,000 bottles, soon to reach approximately 10. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted September 2024

Giulia Monteleone

Monteleone Etna Rosso DOC Monteleone 2022

Fine perfumes and just as promising spirit turn upwards with even further generosity from an Etna Rosso of fruit as pure as any. A wine of harmony and like a well-written song sung with grace. Not the most complex or complicated Rosso but who would not bask in the glow of a glass any place and any time. Clarity and purity are what matters for Etna Rosso with its feet on the ground. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Monteleone Etna Rosso DOC Rumex 2022

Rumex, a.k.a. Dock or Sorrel, a perennial culinary herb. Also Rumex, Giulia Monteleone’s sister Rosso to Qubba, of 100 percent nerello mascalese grown at 680m in the volcanic sand and gravels of Contrada Pontale Palino. The vineyard is a natural “clos” encircled by Sciara (mounds of magmatic scoriae formed along lava flows). Rumex is not Qubba what with its brighter entry but also high tonality and elevated acidity. This also means volatility, in check and important for the style and effect of this Rosso. While Qubba is a Rosso for which to peer through ornate windows, Rumex offers a converse approach with much to chew and mull upon, many facets to look deeper into, parts to unravel and feelings to unlock. Must wait two more years before more answers are provided. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted September 2024

Monteleone Etna Rosso DOC Qubba 2021

Perhaps the most famous Islamic architectural example of a Qubba is the Green Dome in Medina, a cupola-shaped shrine built in 1837. In a way Monteleone’s Qubba feels like the representation of Giulia Monteleone’s short history aboard Versante Nord, a journey that began in 2017 and perhaps this Rosso’s extra year in bottle has contributed to the story. A nerello mascalese from a fine vintage that has come to a very great place. There is charm but even more so there is depth to this ’21. A structured wine just about arrived though not quite ready to open its doors and yet we feel like we are peering through the stained glass window of Jerusalem’s Qubba al-Sakhra. Or more realistically the nerello’s aperture but this is clearly coming from fine northern Etna terroir that ripens fruit, maintains acidity and give generously of its vines. Fully developed flavours, plenty of grip and many years are left to give. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo DOC Etna Rosso Nero Di Sei 2021

Nero di Sei 2021 comes quicker to the point with near-immediate gratification because of vintage and also by way of the team allowig and even encouaging this to happen. Or abided more like it, with red berry fruit aromas that nerello mascalese can gift when the conditions are right. This is not to say that 2021 will fade into early light because it is in fact equipped with volume, concentration and backbone. A truly exceptional vintage that will appeal to all. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo DOC Etna Rosso Nero Di Sei 2020

A nerello mascalese that sees 24 months in the troncone wooden vats from a vintage with its specific challenges but there is volume and depth. A Rosso that draws from all the available plots farmed by Palmento Costanzo. Spice and that feeling you get when you bite into dried fruit tree pods like bokser or carob. The finish is Etna balsamico, a mix of wild fennel, oregano and mint, but also some other dusty gariga. Last tasted September 2024

Spicy and floral, aromatically crisp and taut, wood a factor with plenty of seasoning. A bit sappy and edging into tang with flavours quite sharp and also dense but time will settle the score for all parts involved. A big and inky version of Nero di Sei and one to really sink your teeth into. Wait two years to do so. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2020

Always promising and spirited Rosso from the combination of producer and place which take full advantage of both its elevation and particular lava flow to effect beauty and age-ability. A swirl of glycerol comes away from sweet perfume and leads toward real time austerity to indicate not only a wine of substance but also one of aging probability. The concentration is buoyed by acidity and tannin in the ways of top shelf Etna Rosso. Fine vintage and work from the Palmento Costanzo team. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2019

Three further months in and no further changes or gains but just the status quo of primary fruit and a Rosso come from vineyard health with thanks to organics and this 1879 eruption derived volcanic terroir. Last tasted September 2024

Evolving nicely, now nearly ready to go, fruit still fresh enough and structure beginning to subside. A full bodied Etna Rosso from Santo Spirito in delivery of what the contrada and the vintage held in hand. Tasted May 2024

A vintage out of which the pre-phylloxera was produced from the contrada so just imagine the possibilities as they come from this all in for the vintage nerello mascalese. Feels like an extended maceration because the glycerol and unctuous textural pool are both at the crest of Etna Rosso heights. Oranges and cherries but more than anything old vines spirit and what just happened from out of these volcanic sands carried through to century and a half vines is something wholly and unequivocally other. Hints at balsamic reduction but the tannins and also acids are so fresh and so years is what it will take to take this anywhere new. The finest chalkiness imitates the soil and puts this in a league with some of Italy’s most important red wines. Up to you too decide which they are or don’t bother at all. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted May 2023

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito Pre Phylloxera 2020

Same grapes, different style of vinification from the pre-phylloxera section of the vineyard, therefore from material grown on the oldest vines. The extended skin contact is followed by a great and instructive polymerization of the phenolic compounds and when the skins sink down in the troncone the wine is racked and sent on its way into Stockinger Foudres. The tannin quality from the grapes coming off of old Santo Spirito vines are a velvet crush of plush fortified by exquisite volume. The wine moves fluidly and in harmony from start to finish, pausing only to see if you are paying full attention, then continuing to command attention seemingly without trying at all. Rosso this fine is deserving of its own place and time. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted September 2024

Papa Maria Cuore Di Marchesa Etna Rosso DOC Cuore Di Marchesa 2020

The work of Pietro di Giovanni who also happens to be the oenological consultant to La Gelsomina. Papa Maria refers to first name and surname of the maternal grandmother and Pietro has been producing Cuore di (Contrada) Marchesa since 2016. From nerello mascalese grown at 750m near to Solicchiata with a look at varietal character in the vein of nebbiolo and sangiovese but the aging here is one third each steel, tonneaux and amphora. There is some depth to its hue but also proper Etnese transparency and being 2020 there is a sense of maturity on the nose. Amphora will add such an element, not to say the Rosso is passing over into secondary character but it is made with a specific style. Wood spice and amphora texture make this unique, again because Pietro di Giovanni is a winemaker free to choose his whimsy. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Papa Maria Cuore Di Marchesa Etna Rosso DOC Cuore Di Marchesa 2019

The work of Pietro di Giovanni who also happens to be the oenological consultant to La Gelsomina. Papa Maria refers to first name and surname of the maternal grandmother and Pietro has been producing Cuore di (contrada) Marchesa since 2016. From nerello mascalese grown at 750m near to Solicchiata and 2019 show no further maturity as compared to 2020. Speaks not only to vintage but Pietro di Giovanni’s abiding by his contrada and climate. The vineyard is small (1.5 hectare) and the yields extremely low (4 tonnes per hectare). There is surely a style and an honesty here though with time these wines should become exceptional when they are designed with a just bit more restraint. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Passopisciaro Etna Rosso DOC Passorosso 2022

Properly reductive, a redacted quality to hold back the tears and also the years. Concentration and aura are the cards held up by the artistic austerity held out with the final hand yet to play because bets are still arriving on the table. My goodness what structure and intensity so please, stay focused and patient because many years are needed to settle the score. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC 2020

Fine perfume, handsome and inviting to set this up as a muscular yet taut and lean Rosso. Reductive and herbaceous, such a savoury and earthy example of a place within a place. Tannins are somewhat austere and gritty but they should settle and resolve. Palate presence does not follow a direct line from aromas but again, time will bring them closer and eventually together. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Santo Spirito 2020

The 2020 nerello mascalese from Contrada Santo Spirito is a meaty and gamy bruiser, sanguine and yet lifted with some fine volatility to nose. The right amount because the aromatic volume, palate depth and tannic freight are all equal partners working towards a common goal. That would be a full-bodied Etna Rosso with the stuffing and planning to age very well. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted May and September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Barbagalli 2019

A unicorn Etna Rosso and here from 2019 there has been some development though the wine is still ways away from full integration. Talking formidable structure, inclusive of tannins of a tight and variegated grain, running crosswise and painless because they usher fruit and urge acidity to always be a part of the fray. A total weave of Rosso sentiment, bringing emotion and pleasure without fail, to exult a vineyard as special as any in the world. One only need to stand over it to understand its power, insistence on restraint and the keys to unlock potential. Will turn heads and remain in light for a good long time. “Facts are nothing on the face of things. “Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting.” Drink 2026-2037. Tasted May and September 2024

Planeta Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Not a contrada specific Etna Rosso but more than 70 percent comes from Feudo di Mezzo in Passopiciaro. As juicy and glycol notable Rosso as there has ever been and silken would best describe the quality felt aboard the more than pleased and nurtured palate. Another wine that improves each vintage under the guidance of Patricia Tòth, in part because her favourite dogs hang around that winery next to the vineyard. Also because her experience and abilities have come to a most profound place. Love the spice masala on the finish. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May and September 2024

Quantico Etna Rosso DOC 2018

“Tough vintage,” admits Giovanni Raiti, with rain at harvest in October and lots of it. Selection was essential, careful maceration and pressing as well. What has resulted is a glycerol glide through texture incarnate with a fab silken palate holding court and more concentrated strength than thought possible. A wine to nose quickly and move forward to linger on that mouthfeel. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Rosario Raciti – Rupestre

Rupestre Etna Rosso DOC 2022

The name Rupestre refers to the 3,000 year-old Palmento found on the estate’s site in Contrada Pietramarina and the word essentially means “ancient.” Rosario Raciti worked in Portugal, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Tuscany and Puglia before returning to the family farm in Castiglione di Sicilia. The style is so very much Rosario’s, reductive and closed, yet from Contrada Pietramarina the glycerol, silky organza texture and length are what make the case for potential greatness out of such a wine. Again vine age is less than 20 and so the best days are still to come. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Rupestre Etna Rosso DOC 2021

This just the third vintage for Rosario Raciti’s Etna Rosso from Contrada Pietramarina in in Castiglione di Sicilia. A perfumed nerello mascalese, unadorned and pure with glycerol marking the mouthfeel. Sweet and savoury spices and just a lovely natural swirl to not just the fruit but the whole composition. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Pianodario 2020

Lighter of body but not aroma as it now enters with the volume turned up, a feeling of idiosyncrasy and high-level curiosity. Wild and exotic spicing owing to a 17th century lava flow now in a state of degradation to make certain the nerello mascalese growing in its sands are the recipient of its mineral profile. Last tasted September 2024

High-toned, spirited and transparent nerello mascalese from Tasca’s L’Etna Tascante out of Contrada Pianodario. Red berry shine, acids excited and fruit a willing participant. Tarragon and Basil herbal, so very basaltic stony and truly a wine of place. Crunchy and ever so slightly resinous with balsamico mixing into the sweetness of fruit and acidity. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Sciaranuova V.V. 2020

Old Sciaranuova vines are the impetus for concentration and experience in this soil-driven contrada specific Rosso for Alberto Tasca’s Tascante of L’Etna. A wholesome, fulsome and fully formed Rosso with the verity of a nerello mascalese-ness here that delivers the entirety of mountain experience with earthy, austere and drying tannins sure to elevate the long term goal and gain. Big Rosso but one of medium body that sets its heights and peaks to points achievable and five years forward will see real things indeed. Bravo to the team for getting this estate and this wine to where it needs to be. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted September 2024

Michele Brusaferri and Vittoria Cerniglia – Tasca d’Almerita Tascante

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Sciaranuova V.V. 2012

The inaugural vintage for the Tasca family’s Etna project and a more intense result because of initial experimentation with longer macerations. A very promising and in retrospect top quality but also age-worthy vintage, with lingering freshness battling against developing cherry stone bitters. As for overall maturity the ’12 has hung in admirably though wood and the pressed style have added up to this. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso Doc Contrada Rampante 2020

Rampante is the biggest and broadest of the three Contrada Tascante, less ethereal and with more gainful force but it does so with impressive pronouncement. A comparative study however and still thus Rosso is transparent like its brethren. The fullness is a matter of contrada soil and subsequent style. Really quite unique for Etna Rosso, glycerol and silken texture in delivery of mouthfeel that few others will gift. Rampante yes but also Tascante, a way of raising and looking at nerello mascalese fruit with an eye to expression and fineness of tannin. There is some grippy austerity in the last part of this Rosso but one can’t help but feel the promise in its ways. Should age beautifully for 10 years easy. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC 20° Anniversario 2022

A single contrada Rosso from Terre Nere from the young vines within Calderara Sottana, to celebrate Marc de Grazia’s 20 years of delivering nerello mascalese from his Etna estate. “The young vines have a vigour and an enthusiasm,” he says. “Bless them.” A blend of these precocious parcels and a cuvée that he surely feels is representative of what has been accomplished thus far, without diverting too far way from what has already been done. Their cumulative hue is always lighter and brighter than the rest of the wines. A fine design and effort that stays true to purity and finesse. Fine wine indeed. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted (twice), September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Aged 18 months instead of the usual 12, which the reds will almost always receive going forward. “The son of our vineyards and also neighbours that follow our protocol,” explains Marc de Grazia, “or those who are so good in their’s they don’t need to follow our protocol.” Fine introductory lesson in Etna Rosso now in session. Not so much a dictionary entry but more like the instructor itself to test our mettle and knowledge, to see if we are paying attention and gaining what we need to now and feel. Bright red fruit, some grip and structure with tannins that dry with preferable, positive and proper distinction. A wine that will see the single contrada wines of Terre Nere move from strength to strength. “A watershed vintage” says de Grazia. “The finest (non single contrada) Rosso we’ve ever made and will improve with age.” Last tasted September 2024

The “Villages” Rosso, blending youngest vines fruit from the various 50-plus parcels comprising half of the total production, including some cappuccio. There could be some montellado and other smallest quantities of red grape varieties involved. Interesting in that this effects a richer and naturally sweeter character than most Contrada or Cru wines. So getable and crushable, also a dictionary entry and teaching moment for what it means to be and taste like Etna Rosso. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Feudo Di Mezzo 2022

Always the first to be harvested, almost certainly on October the 4th, give or take a few days of course. “Begins with harmony when young,” tells Marc de Grazia, “and born perfect.” Not entirely true and yet also not disengenous to say that because it will age extremely well. Yes 2022 is pretty, immediately gratifying and seductively perfumed already. Underneath are layers of feudal structure that may lay low below, unseen and unspoken, but they are there. The nerello mascalese equivalent of a hierarchical social structure characterized by a small ruling set of tannin over fruit peasantry working in exchange for protection. Maybe half the grip as compared to the other single contrada Etna Rosso but do not sleep on this subjugating power. Needs two year to initiate its integrations. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Moganazzi 2022

Moganazzi is a bit further east and slightly higher in elevation as compared with Feudo di Mezzo. All terraced, 70 year-old vines at 650-700m. Three parcels combining for one vineyard on the same hill. Marc de Grazia purchased them one at a time and he sees this wine in the vein of say Pommard or Nuit-Saint-Georges. In other words grip that needs two years to “mellow and obtain its luminosity.” True spirit of Etna Rosso’s grace and charm with as lithe and bright nerello mascalese as ever there could be. Fragrance and kick. Moganazzi is all that and secretly austere within the construct of its fine demure. A Rosso that makes you think but even more its makes you feel. Terrific emotion, control, concentration and expressiveness. Amazing wine. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted twice, September 2024

With Marc de Grazia – Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Guardiola 2022

Marc de Grazia considers Feudo di Mezzo and Moganazzi to be Premier Cru and while some producers feel that Guardiola is Grand Cru, he begs to differ. “Somewhere between the two,” he says. On the right hill and yet not quite there, maybe like the split opinion on Monte de Tonerre. Elevation up in the 900s transmits up as aromatic heights, expanse of perfume and yet also this sense of maturity. “A soprano of Rosso, a separation of crus with identity that implies discretion.” Refinement but also tannins that are compact, austere and like the bouquet, irreplaceable, in other words, not replicable. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo 2022

From 70,000 year-old soils which makes a connection with other Rosso raised on the same terroir, like Calderara Sottana. A place that consistently provides quality for fine wines, from Premier to Grand Cru. This is the oration from Marc de Grazia who repeatedly uses Bourgogne as the reference point. “San Lorenzo of all the wines is the one that requires more patience,” says de Grazia. “To reveal its glory.” There is an aroma that reminds of Guardiola as well, a mix of restrained bursts and maturity which tells us the wine will be more expressive after a bottle is open for 24 hours. Youthful is the understatement. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Dagala Di Bocca d’Orzo 2022

The tiny vineyard that survived the 1981 lava flow, a parcel that only produces a maximum of 1,800 bottles with a connection to San Lorenzo on the other side of the 100m wide lava swath. An old vines Monopole block dating back a century always made and the one that drinks with immediate distinction, maturity and acumen. Dagala di Bocca d’Orzo also deals in the sneakiest of tannins, more structure than you would surely think and that sort of Etna Rosso that arrives somewhere fast but stays comfortably in the same state for a dozen years. All that said it’s precision and beauty allow us to enjoy its charms straight away. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Calderara Sottana 2022

Tenuta Ferrata Etna Rosso DOC Frevi 2020

From the area of Castiglione at 680m with 100 percent nerello mascalese. Aging in grandi botti for two years and then 10 months in bottle before release. A richness of style, liquorice and dried tree pod fruit, the wood very much in play and acidity less intense than many. A liquid chalky presence on the palate, still needing another year to resolve. Chewy example, confident and a slow delay of fruit, which is never really all that fresh. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May and September 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Big French tonneaux, second passage and older for eight months. No recipe but that is this vintage, not as powerful as 2022 and Sofia sees it like 2016, but perhaps a different kind of balance, though not as ideal as 2016. The restrained power of the volcano runs throughout and you really feel it. Remarkable Etna Rosso in balance and of a grace that speaks to all there can be. What these wines are want to express and how they carry themselves, non-plussed, confident and free. The ripeness factor at the top of what is normal and beautiful without excess or greed. Sweetness of acidity and form-fitting structure but neither curves nor angles are exaggerated, nor drawn with any concentric circles or sharp lines. The wine flows and reaches the limits of what is right and proper. Just that much and no more. And we say thank you. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May and September 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso DOC Vigna Vico Pre-Phylloxera 2017

From Sofia Ponzini in the area of Passopisciaro and her cru vineyard called Vico. Own-rooted, pre-phylloxera vines, more than 100 years old, nerello mascalese and also cappuccio. A reminder that 2017 was cooler than most of Italy, especially the centre and north, but still generally sunny and warm on Sicily, including aboard L’Etna. Just now beginning to open and emit its magnificent perfumes, followed by a textural weave of vinous fabrics and finally the much expected, energizing and aligning archetypal volcanic saltiness. Drink 2024-2030. T asted May and September 2024

Tenute Nicosia Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Monte San Nicolò Biologico 2020

A 2020 and so a few years in though the Monte San Nicolò is a bit quiet – somewhat aromatically subdued. Needs some coaxing to see and feel its joy, but fruit nor florals are what drive or cause the beats of the heart. In part because it’s somewhat reductive, of pencil shavings and notable botanicals, like an artiginale tonic water if you get the herbal drift. Solid if currently missing some spirit but time will make a difference. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Rosario Raciti – Terre Darrigo

Terre Darrigo Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Proper and correct northeastern Etna road taken in terms of extraction and transparency, A good volume (upwards of 30,000 bottles) that will repeat in 2024 after the disastrous 2023. Real cherry fruit but also the stone that speaks to what Contrada Arrigo is want to lend in mineral terms for nerello mascalese. That mixed with some fruit from other sources but our palates get the drift. Good Rosso that will improve with vine age and agronomist/winemaker Rosario Raciti’s familiarity with this farm. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Terre Darrigo Etna Rosso DOC C. da Arrigo 2022

Etna Rosso from the single contrada (Arrigo) where Terre Darrigo’s amphitheatre grows nerello mascalese in a most beautiful rustic setting on southeastern facing, tightly packed terraces between the volcano and the sea. You can feel the great difference between this wine and the classico Rosso though if you are from this place you say it with sentito, that is with feeling, shouting out this is “the wine from L’Etna!” This single contrada wine elevated from that appellative discourse, softens the bitter cherry stone and smooths transitions. This because it’s a very well made Rosso from a place of great potential. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC 2021

The most understandable and straightforward Etna Rosso there could be, mature and layered, of riches and earth, fruit and soil all in the mix. A volcanic paint by numbers canvas of realism and beauty, easily accessible and generous to a perfectly reasonable degree. Entry point for the DOC and once in, never to look back. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May and September 2024

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC Pietrarizzo 2020

Some very ripe fruit here from Tonatore’s Pietrarizzo Rosso in the ways of late picking and good solid pressing. Makes for a chewy nerello mascalese that will ready itself for consumption quite a bit earlier than quite a bunch of its peers. Plenty of flavour and attraction for a wine that should be consumed over the next three years. Last tasted May and September 2024

North slope of Etna cru of nerello mascalese put to 50hl foudres, blended and then settled in concrete ahead of bottling. Consistently one of the finer Rosso values in Contrada-specific Etna and here the fruit ripeness and maturity is as fulsome as it ever gets. Makes for a drink really early proposition and provided that advice is followed there will be perfume, heady flavours and good acidity in your glass. A wine to lead off high-end tastings and dinners here, there and everywhere. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Carmelo Vecchio and Rosa la Guzza – Vigneti Vecchio

Vigneti Vecchio Etna DOC Rosso Sciare Vive 2022

The work of Rosa La Guzza and Carmelo Vecchio in Solicchiata on L’Etna’s northeastern slope and a blend of several contrade. The signature Rosso of highest production that sees concrete, botti and fibreglass. Some of the vines date back 150 years and there are many varieties involved in what is a true field blend, including the likelihood of ancient red and white varieties; minnella, inzolia, carricante, grecanico, catarratto and malvasia. But when it comes to grapes (if not perhaps location and elevation) the Etna DOC offers an inclusive and forgiving discipline. Rosa admits this Rosso to be “a little rough,” Carmelo nods in agreement and while also tumble there is just so much flippin’ personality. It may blow your mind and also lash your palate, but in the end nothing else on Etna, or anywhere else tastes like this Rosso. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Etna DOC Rosso Contrada Friera 2022

Contrada Friera is Carmelo Vecchio’s Etna Rosso from Lingualossa, of 95 percent nerello mascalese and a smattering of various endemic varieties (minnella, inzolia, carricante, grecanico and catarratto) from vines as old as 120 years of age. Less than one hectare provides this antediluvian hodge-podge of the varietal wild and the maker’s job is to simply gather and come what may. His vineyard is basically a monopole and so there is no frame of reference save for what the eastern Etna spirits might whisper in his ear. Material this old will do what it pleases and while there is a rusticity similar to Sciare Vive there is also more concentration, complexity and most importantly intuition. There could always be the possibility of importune happenstance but Friere knows what to do. It would seem. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Malpasso 2022

Classic and that means arch-classic texture brought forth from a Carmelo Vecchio nerello mascalese. Without a doubt the purest and cleanest Vigneti Vecchio Rosso to date made under his tenure. A challenge of vintage but a test passed with flying colours and sweet spot found. Allow this 2022 to rest on the palate for 20 seconds, to take in its weightlessness and ability to hover just above the senses. A signature of Malpasso that will repeat and be recognized going forward. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Malpasso 2020

As with Friere, the Etna blend from Contrada Malpasso (literally “bad step”), is a Rosso of 95 percent nerello mascalese with bits and bites of various indigenous varieties like minnella, inzolia, carricante, grecanico and catarratto, here from vines in the 120 year-old range. A Rosso that pulses, still with some residual CO2 and it feels like carbonic maceration was a part of the deal. Carmelo Vecchio in fact started with the method in 2020 so family and friends could get together and make a party of it. Malpasso shows great energy, fabulously so, alive and kicking. It is said that one wrong step can change everything but a mal passo might just result in a wildly entertaining wine like this. Drink this sooner than the other VV’s while this candle still burns. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Etna DOC Rosso Contrada Crasà 2022

Contrada Crasà for Etna Rosso is composed of 90 per cent nerello mascalese and a field blend of (10) local white varieties, in this case inzolia, grecanico and catarratto. The hectare and a half was planted in 1930 and so 92 years is the number for this vintage. Call it even and just say century vines because 1930 seems a bit arbitrary at this point for a vineyard that sits just one km away from another where vines are 130 years of age. Carmello Vecchio likes to use stems, co-ferment and give 15 days of skin maceration. The acts of pigeage and remontage are done lightly and so the sweetness and purity of fruit is kept in tact. Like the Malpasso this buzzes with energy but with more control, less wildness and yet remains very much alive. All the red berries are imagined to be represented and once again Vigneti Vecchio presents a unicorn wine. They always are. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Benanti

Other Wines

Benanti Viticoltori Nerello Cappuccio 2022, Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT

A rare varietal nerello cappuccio, without oak since 2014, not always made and says Salvino Benanti, ”not a wine you can make a business from, but it’s worth showing to the world.” A versatile red to chill, very gamay like, or if you ike to compare locally, in the vein of frappato. Does not grow (perfectly) well in every vintage and there is surely a rusticity but you can see just how well Benanti tames the edginess, softens the structure and maintains a sweet herbal profile. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Chardonnay C’eragià 2021, Sicilia DOC

Tasca’s Etna interpretation of chardonnay comes from a one-acre vineyard in Contrada Rampante and no shock to sense the scents of barrel fermentation. There is vanilla, white caramel, honeysuckle, fennel pollen and lightly toasted biscuits with an autolytic wind ‘a blowing. A still chardonnay imagined as being subjected to a secondary fermentation in bottle and a sparkling method wine should be so lucky to have this fruit as its maker. The flavours feign sweetness accented by spice., energy runs high and in the end C’eragià which translates as “it was already there” is a fine interpretation of chardonnay. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Donna Bianca 2018, Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT

With fruit from outside of the defined DOC yet in Carmelo Vecchio’s world a most important vineyard at 820m of elevation. The mix of soil and climate make for a poignant and prescient nerello mascalese named for Donna Bianca, the snowcapped “lady,” a.k.a the volcano at 3,000-3,300 metres above. High-toned, free-spirited, big acid bomb and half the glycerin of some of Vecchio’s other reds. Far from volatile despite the lightning style with great potential and a truly high ceiling. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Dessert wines

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Moscato Passito Di Terreni Vulcanici 2018, Terre Siciliane IGT

A moscato (bianco) but the variety is muscadelle, not moscato di alessandria, a.k.a. zibbibo. Dried fruit, never crushed, always infused after the stainless ferment and finishes at 110-120 g/L of residual sugar. Uniquely Sicilian if not defined or expressive of being from L’Etna but still a tradition is followed. Clean as Passito will be, without formaggi or yeasty notes, of apricot and fig, acidity enough though unassuming. Serves a purpose, preferably with a good bite into biscotti. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Visits with Planeta and Serra Ferdinandea

Planeta Syrah Maroccoli 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Just the syrah facts, “in purezza” as they say, from an Ulmo site with a proviso for as much varietal perfume as anywhere in Sicily. “We were expecting some kind of natural catastrophe, “says Winemaker Patricia Tóth, “because it was 2020 – but it never arrived.” Good winter precipitation was followed by months of pleasant weather, much like 2014. Succulent acids and tart idealism combine to elevate, buoy and celebrate fruit. A syrah of a rising, balanced, long and true. Has already entered the drinking zone. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Planeta Burdese 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

A cabernet joint, of 70 sauvignon and 30 franc, each noticeable and notable for this Sicilian play on words. Burdese, as in Bordeaux for a wine grown on the left bank of the man made lake, once a river flowing through the valley below Ulmo in Sambuca di Sicilia. Forget the mimic or simulation because place supersedes idea with a mix of juicy and dusty fruit, succulent acids and fine tannins. No grittiness or grippy intensity but really more a matter of verticality and integration. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Planeta Merlot Sito Dell’Ulmo 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

A 100 percent merlot from the Ulmo Vineyard, owned since 1694 and a first harvest in 1995. From this part of Menfi where the sun shines bright and the breezes blow every day between the massifs to the north and Monte Cerami that separates the vineyard from the sea. Menfi where the typical reds of merlot outlast the opposing greens by 10 to one and so fruit is everything with the local limestone streaking through. Succinct wine, linear and direct, credibly structured and the cohort involving fruit and wood seamlessly integrated. Fine stuff, veritably reasoned and seasoned. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Planeta Cabernet Franc Didacus 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Planeta Cabernet Franc Didacus 2019, Sicilia Menfi DOC

An extra year in bottle and at first there seems not to be the great difference that might have been expected when tasted side by each with Didacus 2020. In fact 2019 is a much more tannic and structured vintage with its intensity cross-examined by austerity. Indemnity for cabinet franc with an upwards trajectory of extending verticality and still it requests for more time. The fruit is far less succulent and lush as compared to ’20 and so when the wine falls into place there will be a faster intern into secondary character. Expect quicker to arrive fungi and a masala of spice directed by the wood. Wait another year at least and then drink this Didacus ’19 before the ’20 finishes its own run. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Serra Ferdinandea Rosato 2023, Sicilia DOC

First vintage of the 100 percent nero d’avola Rosé was 2020, grown aboard the serious limestone at 400-plus metres subjected to the south sea, Saharan and Mistral winds that blow through the Sambuca di Sicilia Valley. While southern France might seem to be the precursor that may no longer be the case, if namely because a blend now becomes a varietal wine. Better for the decision and change, now a step up in rich flavours, texture and presence. Fine and elegant. Last tasted September 2024

Next step taken for Rosé on the south coast at Menfi with this upright and linear ’23 inching towards the profound. A balance and a confidence with 100 percent nero d’Avola that defines the idiom and begins to perfect the workmanship. Satisfying and also delicious, inciting the salivary glands and asking for more. Will gain interst and intersect with further complexities after 18 months further time in bottle. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Serra Ferdinandea Bianco 2022, Sicilia DOC

Mezzo e mezzo, 50-50 grillo and sauvignon blanc grown at elevation like the nero d’avola, only stainless steel for fermentation. The grillo has always been a natural fermentation of a pied de cuve way, while the sauvignon follows dutifully along. A true bianco joint, friendly and smart, sapid and salty, phenolic and grippy. Brat not nat, not bratty and certainly not natty. Crisp and edging into herbal with a what just feels like place, that being Menfi. You can forage for salads in the fields and vineyards, reflected in the flavours of this Bianco. Last tasted September 2024

Mix of 50-50 grillo and sauvignon blanc, for now the only two white grapes and making up a third of the 17 hectares total. The most recent planting was 2021, the first back in 2015. All about freshness and salinity with just a bit of wood thanks to 25 percent, none of it new. The wood is present by only in subtle and oscillating tones on the mouth. Some phenolic presence yet again, not overdone or even remotely aggressive. A bit buttery at the finish, graced by piquancy and the sort of scorrevole that drifts slowly away. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Serra Ferdinandea Rosso Sicilia 2022, Sicilia DOC

Another 50-50 blend, here from nero d’Avola and syrah, equal partners in crime. The wines used to be 70-30, including the Rosato and now half an half makes much more sense for Rosso. And in turn it makes the Rosé that much better as a varietal nero. More syrah brings more spice and also meatiness matched by mineral, spice and elements of the earth. A hit of sanguine, a hint of iodine and then the floral nero kicking in. It continues with its freshness and necessary mix of sapid meeting salty, from limestone, sea and wind revivalist nature. The most complex and frankly interesting becoming delicious red blend in the winery’s short history. Just FYI the Serra Ferdinandea catalogue lists the wines from Rosso to Bianco to Rosato, in that order. Just the way tasting wine should be and yet we taste in the opposite order. Maybe we’ll switch that around in 2025. Last tasted September 2024

Equal parts syrah and nero d’Avola, straightforward, clean and with the idea being to make the purest iteration that exults two very important grapes. Increasing the concrete involvement though this is all done in wood with subsequent vintages to go in that cemented direction. Already croccante so imagine the freshness and crunch going forward. Purple violets, light chalkiness and what feels like sandy soil-effected freshness. Piquant and toothsome. Delicious. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Good to go!

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Versante Nord, L’Etna

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Godello’s March through Prowein, The Ahr Valley and The Rheinhessen

May5

Godello with Jancis Robinson

as seen on WineAlign

In March I attended Prowein in Düsseldorf, Germany, the world’s largest wine trade fair, tasting a fascinating array of wines. I also added short visits to lesser known regions, first the tiny Ahr Valley as well as Rheinhessen in Germany. Last month I published a brief synopsis report based on the following tastings:

Jancis Robinson, Alsace, Greek Assyrtiko, Chianti Classico, Franken Silvaner, The Ahr Valley and Rheinhessen…

It was one month ago that David and I attended Prowein 2017, the international wine congress in Düsseldorf, Germany of such immense proportion that words, description and explanation just fail to do it justice. If you are an agent your goals are simple; meet with your incumbent suppliers and taste with enough new ones to fill the holes in your portfolio. But what if you are a journalist like me? What do you concentrate on? Were do you start?

Canada’s two coolest wine cats present the country’s cool whites to a packed #Prowein house #Canadianwine #ontariowine #winesofbritishcolumbia #drjanetdorozynski #davidlawrason #beyondco

First things first. As a Canadian and a representative of Wine Country Ontario I hung around the Canadian pavilion, talked with our coast to coast winemakers, vintners and marketing representatives, took in the seminars on cool climate wines led by David and Dr. Janet Dorozynski and of course, tasted some wines. I’m glad I did because I might have otherwise missed out on four exceptional Canadian bottles.

It’s @jamiegoode talking up #Canadianwine at #Prowein

Pillitteri Estates Winery Cabernet Franc 2013, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Agent, $24.95, WineAlign)

The quintessential cool climate vintage does for more than chardonnay and riesling as told by this classic tier cabernet franc. From winemaker Aleksandar Kolundzic who is rapidly developing guru status where cabernet franc is concerned, which comes as no surprise when you consider how many variations on the theme he lends his laser focus. The 16 months spent in two to three year-old oak leads to mellow melting integration and that seasoned, grace-gifting wood is used to great advantage. This is floral, expansive, chewy, firm and so very pretty. A wise old cabernet franc that will tell great stories of the years gone by well into the next decade. Drink 2017-2023. Tasted March 2017 @Pillitteriwines pillitteriwines @PillitteriEstatesWinery @WineCountryOnt winecountryont @mkaiserwine @WineCountryOntario

Vineland Estates Elevation Cabernet 2014, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (173609, $28.00, WineAlign)

The two thirds/one third cabernet franc/cabernet sauvignon stunner from Vineland Estates is pulled (and now labeled) from the 60-acre Bo-Teek Vineyard found within the designated viticultural area Niagara Escarpment (within the broader Twenty Mile Bench) sub-appellation. Estate cabernet of such acumen is predicated on the sound wisdom gathered by a viticulturist and Vineland’s Roman Prydatkewycz knows his cabernet. Winemaker Brian Schmidt takes this paradigmatic escarpment fruit, passes it through the optimal sorter, removes five to eight per cent imperfect berries and a quarter of the cabernet sauvignon fruit. What remains is hand-punched, sent to neutral barrels and is forgotten for 15 months. What emerges is a naturally sweet, vegetal-void elixir, sharp, focused, fervently nervous, tart and captured as if in a dark vacuum or void. It’s all tied inside snug, concentrated and intense. It’s too early for the burst but it will happen within another 12 months time, followed by a six to 12 year slow release of flavour, texture and descendent development of tannin. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted March 2017 @VinelandEstates @benchwineguy vinelandestates benchwineguy @winery.vinelandestates Brian Schmidt @WineCountryOnt winecountryont @mkaiserwine @WineCountryOntario

Attention proweiners- Still time to discover cool @WinesofCanada in Hall 9 @CVAWine @WinesofNS #ontariowine #bcwine

Benjamin Bridge Brut Brut Rosé Sparkling 2012, Nova Scotia (Winery, $44.99, WineAlign)

The adjustment for vintage and evolution means that chardonnay takes more control in the Brut Rosé. Warmth and ripeness were easier to come by in 2012 and though the pinot decrease may seem antithetical and not obvious as a result, it is a brilliant stroke of adjudication. With a 43 per cent stake (plus equal parts noir and meunier) the 2012 Rosé rushes out as an open vein of fleshy aromatics, many of which you will have never nosed before. Citrus and floral exotica, like juice vesicles oozing out of fruit and herbal, of Murraya paniculata, pomelo and kumquat. The omnipresent vitality, energy, intensity and Bridge acidity is never denied and definitely not here but the vintage sets this ’12 apart and furthers the experience with travel around excellency. The liquid hits the palate, expands, vaporizes and recurs. It’s magic really, the sparkling wine tasting equivalent of vaping so cue the health benefits. Just when you thought Benjamin Bridge and winemaker Jean-Benoit Deplauriers had hit the mark they turn the mark on its head. Confirms two salient matters; the Nova Scotia sparkling wine leader is the Canadian commander and blush bubbles are what they do with constant consistency. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted March 2017 @Benjamin_Bridge @jbdeslauriers benjaminbridge caveman__jones @benjaminbridgevineyards Jean-Benoit Deslauriers @WinesofNS #winesofnovascotia @winesofns

Blomidon Estate Late Pick Sparkling Chardonnay 2011, Nova Scotia (Winery, $45.00, WineAlign)

The 2011 late-picked chardonnay, the “Hurricane” is a hyperbole of itself. Normally picked in later October, the frost-free weather allowed further time and development. Picked from seaside vineyards just ahead of another hurricane (in a season that included Irene), this is sparkling wine you just have to try. Though lean, taut and as intense as you are likely to taste, the developed character and complexity is visionary for Nova Scotia and Canadian sparkling wine. Three years on the lees brings the texture and fills the gaps, holes and voids created by such a tightly wound cool climate chardonnay. The dry factor is exaggerated in 2011 (a one-off says winemaker Simon Rafuse) but the wine takes full advantage of the Extra-Brut intent. Did it require the anxiety of a recent and an impending cyclone? Can it be duplicated? “That’s the story of the Hurricane.” Visionary for Nova Scotia and Canadian sparkling wine. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted March 2017 @BlomidonEstate blomidonestate @blomidonestatewinery Simon Rafuse @WinesofNS #winesofnovascotia @winesofns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfiK17FhP4g

You can’t see it all, do it all or taste it all, so you pick your spots. The rest of my three-day, 12-pavilion cum airport hangar wanderings can be summed up in five ProWein experiences; Jancis Robinson, Alsace, Greece, Chianti Classico and a great exploration into Franken silvaner and spätburgunder. The grand dame of wine held a special intimate media tasting. With fewer than 18 international journalists in attendance, Jancis Robinson’s seven favourite wines at ProWein were poured, choices she noted “I think should be useful to our readers and seek out value.” Nahe and Weinviertel riesling, Chinese cabernet sauvignon, Crozes-Hermitage, Amontillado and my picks of the lot from Chile and Sicily.

Robinson’s full list of wines chosen and poured were as follows: Weingut Schäfer-Fröhlich Riesling Trocken Bockenaur Schiefergestein 2015, Nahe, Germany, Zillinger Grüner Veltliner Radikal 2015, Weinviertel, Austria, De Martino Cinsault Viejas Tinajas 2014, Itata, Chile, Tenuta delle Terre Nere Santo Spirito Rosso 2014, Sicily, Italy, Chateau Changyu Moser Family Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Ningxia, China, Maison Tardieu-Laurent Vieilles Vignes 2015, Rhône, France, Williams & Humbert Jalifa 30 Year Old VORS Amontillado NV, Jerez-Manzanilla, Spain.

41 years experience. 65,000 to choose from. Seven meticulous picks. @jancisrobinson @Prowein #Prowein

De Martino Viejas Tinajas Cinsault 2014, Secano Interior/Coelemu, Maule, Chile (BCLDB, 72702 $16.99, WineAlign)

Poured by Jancis Robinson at ProWein 2017, the departure for Chile and cinsault hails from just south of Maule and well south of Santiago. Grapes come from a tiny commune called Coelemu and in fact the name Itata cannot be used for ‘un-noble’ grapes so Secano Interior is the nomenclature employed. Done up in old clay jars called “Tinajas,” the cinsault gets a sort of membrane, a cap if you will, of a layer of tannin and acidity due to the clay after 15 days of carbonic maceration plus a full year in those amphorae. The 31 year-old vines deliver the first strike, a natural cure, then bitter cherry and so the wine would service better with a further chill. Robinson notes that it’s “chock full of fruit and tradition,” an exploration wine, in a part of the world not on the bigger maps. Drink 2017-2019. Tasted March 2017 @DeMartinoWines demartinowines @DeMartinoWines @WinesofChile @WinesOfChile drinkchile @DrinkChile

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Santo Spirito Rosso 2014, Sicily, Italy (Agent, $56.95, WineAlign)

Here is a regional defining Etna Rosso that comes 16 years after the pioneers began to bring these volcanic magma gems to the world, like Frank Cornilessen and Andrea Franchetti of Tuscany’s Tenuto Trinoro in the Val D’Orcia. Made by Marco de Grazie, Santo Spirito is a single vineyard Etna made on the “black lands,” composed of 98 per cent nerello mascalese, deep dark and volcanic, off of 40-100 year old vines. It’s deeply hematic and the nose is like a cross between fennel and the marriage of lava and garrigue. The wine is aged in French barriques and it shows; of vanilla, really mellow liquid bitters. It’s warm (14.5 per cent), young, oak-welling though energetic, playful, like dark modern Burgundy. The finish as so very volcanic twang, like country music, Sicilian style. Such chewy and grainy tannin drapes all over that long finish. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted March 2017 @tenutaterrenere @WinesSiciliaDoc @WinesOfSicily @GroupeSoleilTO tenutaterrenere winesofsicily realbenhardy @TenutaDelleTerreNere @WinesOfSicily

The honour and privilege to taste Alsace is always welcome and especially when the sit down happens with two exceptional humans like Christian and Valerie Beyer. Their Lieu-Dit pinot gris and noir were terrific examples but it was the Riesling that blew me away. From special limestone this is more refined than similar Alsace from granite, of a salty minerality and intensely elegant.

An @AlsaceWines reconnect with Christian & Valérie Beyer @EmileBeyer @Prowein #justlikestartingover #eguisheim #riesling #rieslinggrandcru #pfersigberg #pinotgris #lieudit #hohrain #pin

Emile Beyer Riesling Grand Cru Pfersigberg 2012, Ac Alsace, France (Winery, WineAlign)

The Pfersigberg or “hill of peach trees” consists of limestone conglomera Muschelkalk and Jurassic stone. Its south exposure on very deep soil produces early maturing wines but from the exceptional 2012 vintage Christian Beyer’s Pfersigberg will last a decade or more. His family’s domain has been farming organically since ’05, officially since ’12 and half of the producers in Egusheim are indeed organic. Christian explains that this Grand Cru is a special kind of limestone, so similar to Burgundy and it lends the salty minerality of itself. Always carries richness with lime fresh citrus, stone fruit acidity and some honey in a riesling that will turn waxy in secondary life. It’s really about mouthfeel and the crisp crunchy rock salt so I and I believe you should really concentrate on the aftertaste. This is more refined than similar Alsace from granite, here from 35-45 year old vines and 35 hL/L yields. Intensely elegant. Drink 2018-2028. Tasted March 2017 @EmileBeyer emilebeyer1580 Emile Beyer Valérie Beyer @VinsAlsace @AlsaceWines @drinkAlsace vinsalsace drinkalsace @vinsalsace @AlsaceWinesOfficial

With Panayiota Kalogeropouloun and Margarita Damigou of Domaine Sigalas at ProWein

I also sat down with Panayiota Kalogeropoulou and Margarita Damigou for a ProWein date with assyrtiko and it was a revelation to taste a single-vineyard white that turns the world on its head.

Domaine Sigalas Kavalieros 2015, Santorini, Greece (Agent, SAQ 11814421, $31.00, WineAlign)

I’ve not yet tasted the Kavalieros 2014, so this single-vineyard, 18 months on lees done in stainless steel Kavalieros 2015 made by “Mr. George” is the benchmark for Santorini, assrytiko and salty white wines everywhere. The first release was 2009. Straight up and turning the world on its head, like the old man on the label and upside down against Apollo’s Aegean Cyclades. This ’15 richer still, more than the seven villages wines and a hyperbole as compared to the entry-level assyrtiko, of deeper mineral, compressed, layered and fantastic. Crushed rocks permeate in aggregate, it’s quixotically saline and textured, of intense presence and finally, structured. For 15 years at least. A late shot of natural Santorini tonic swirls in centrifuge with assyrtiko so wound up. This will need 10 years to unwind and allow for cracks to form in the mineral shell, followed by the birth of its fruit. It should never be forgotten that assyrtiko can and will show fruit but with Kavalieros you’ll have to be patient. Drink 2020-2031. Tasted March 2017 @DomaineSigalas @MajesticWineInc domainesigalas @DomaineSigalas Panayiota Kalogeropoulou @DrinkGreekWine winesofgreece @newwinesofgreece

As does a natural Peloponnese Roditis, a white that ignites the light fantastic’s wire.

Domaine Tetramythos Roditis 2015, PGI Peloponnese, Greece (Agent, WineAlign)

Roditis 2015 is the natural one, racked from the top and finally now settled (so at this time of tasting 2016 is not yet in bottle but at this time of writing should already be as it always does in April). This is the cleanest and purest of the natural wines on the planet, low in pH, high of natural acidity and without a care in the world. With nothing to fear in regards to spoilage it can go on its own personal shopping spree, accumulate character, personality and confidence with the end result being that there is more of everything in the natural one. Its terrifically repeatable, replicable and clonal acidity makes it quite trippy, stepping on and igniting the light fantastic’s wire. You just have to take a stab in the dark with winemaker Panayiotis Papagiannopoulos’ roditis. Or ye have not yet lived. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted March 2017 @Tetramythos #tetramythoswines @tetramythoswines Devon Masciangelo @DrinkGreekWine winesofgreece @newwinesofgreece

A roam through the Italian pavilion afforded tastings in Puglia, Sicily and as always Tuscany with a one on one face to face with Chianti Classico’s President Sergio Zingarelli and his estate’s flagship wine.

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Sergio Zingarelli 2012, Docg Tuscany, Italy (Agent, $122.95, WineAlign)

This is the flagship wine from the famed estate, a Gran Selezione that bears the patriarchal Sergio Zingarelli name. As expected it is a richer, deeper and depth welling GS, clearly aimed towards the crowning achievement of place, more hedonism, but of course, seeking purity and elegance. The extra year or two in bottle means integration and wood having subsided a bit. “We decided to change the vineyard in 1974 in front of Rocca to be the best vineyard with the best grapes and we will produce our best wine,” I am told by Zingarelli as we taste at ProWein. What was 90 per cent sangiovese (planted in 1999-2000) this 2012 is accented by colorino but in 2014 it will be 100 per cent sangiovese. Elegant as much as sangiovese and Gran Selezione will likely ever strive to be. It is hard not to be impressed with this wine. It bursts with the essence of plums and richest of red cherries, but it’s not without it’s requisite crunch and chew. The absence of astringency is remarkable and speaks to the quality of the fruit and the gentle touch while working with such phenolic ability. Start drinking this anytime. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted March 2017 @roccadellemacie @roccadellemacie @ProfileWineGrp Profile Wine Group roccadellemacie @chianticlassico chianticlassico @ChiantiClassicoUSA

Cantina di Ruvo Grifo Nero di Troia Riserva Augustale 2012, DOCG Castel del Monte, Puglia, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

Grifo in Castel del Monte was established in 1960 as a cooperative, with 400 farmers and still operates as such with flagship wines based on the local nero di troia. The output is quantified at 1,200,000 bottles per year and increasing. Augustale is the top tier varietal wine from a selection of the vines and produced in small quantities. There is no mistaking what it is, with that specific yeasty bright fruit, slightly volatile to funky but ripe and generous grape scent and bursting with flavour. Spent approximately one year in oak “but the greatest liars are the winemakers,” says Riccardo Ravasio, Direttore Generale presso (General Manager), with a wink and a smile. Mainly big barrels, plus a smaller percentage of small barriques. Fresher than primitivo and with more structure. This has presence and distinction with just a hint of dried fruit, flowers and truffle towards the finish. Classic adult, mature, experienced NdT. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted March 2017 #Grifo @FedericaSchir @cantinaruvodipuglia

Miracle on #etna from @PlanetaWinery eruptive #carricante of such acidity! The lime! #eruzione #1614 #patriciatoth #prowein2017 #winesofsicily #Prowein

Planeta Eruzione 1614 Carricante 2014, Doc Sicily, Italy (Agent, $39.95, WineAlign)

“Not everyone can carry the weight of the world,” save perhaps Planeta’s Patricia Tóth, a winemaker who celebrates the past, the endemic varietal and in the present, the glaring truth. The name Eruzione is evocative of the estate’s Cru dell’Etna and in a mind’s eye transports history through the narrative of carricante (with 10 per cent riesling). It brings the legendary 1614 Mount Etna eruption to life, a longest ever recorded catastrophe that lasted ten years, halting just on the border of the vineyards of Sciaranuova. This is veritable mountain altitude wine, from high (790-890m) terraced, volcanic black soils delivering fresh conifer savour, saltiness and palpable mineral style. It is sharp and composed on the nose, with citrus distillate and elevated acidity. It does not matter whether you are wide awake or deep in R.E.M sleep. At all times it is a revelation for carricante. This is what it can be! There was no need for crop thinning, it was picked four to five weeks after the sparkling and it spent five months on the lees. The texture and the potential longevity are thankful for this. “Combien, combien, combien du temps?” At least seven years. Talk about the passion. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted March 2017 @PlanetaWinery @Noble_Estates planetawinery plant dependent noble_estates @planetawinery Tóth Patricia @NobleEstates

No self-respecting wine journo departs #Prowein without tasting #carricante @PlanetaWinery with #patriciatoth #etna

The Germany pavilion is the epicentre of the ProWein universe. Gravity would naturally pull you to the Mosel and yet I was in search of an alternative experience. With travels to the Ahr Valley and the Rheinhessen looming I gravitated (naturally) to Franken and more specifically to an intensive workshop with silvaner and spätburgunder. The days of the old flattened ellipsoid, field bottle silvaner packaged in traditional Franconian Bocksbeutel are nearly behind us and while several modern, clean and pure examples match up with the great mineral fresh whites around the planet, one stood apart.

Franken Silvaner

Rudolf May Silvaner Retzstadter Langenberg Der Schäfer 2015, Franken, Germany (Winery, WineAlign)

May’s Der Schäfer silvaner comes from the Retztadter Langenberg, a slope of muschelkalk (predominantly from the lower muschelkalk, or wellenkalk) that characterizes the soil. Looking east the location is protected by the Retzstadt deciduous forest and the warm air of the Maintales flows from the west. This specialized and extra-special silvaner is balanced in its aromatic ability meets proper and right-willing alcohol (13.5), with great quality acidity. True salinity and caper brine put my mind’s senses into concepts where this shares a kinship with assytrtiko. It’s brilliant, stony-gemstone able, savoury, no actually sapid, and exceptionally mouth salivating. Just a touch of texture driven lees builds character and great persistence. Bitters before the end are finely distilled and character building. Fresh to drink now and with more ability than most to age. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted March 2017 @frankenwein #frankenwein Frankenwein Fränkische Weinkönigin @Weingut.Rudolf.May @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

So much to say about #silvaner and #spätburgunder #pinotnoir

Passion für Pinot Noir! is the avant-garde Deutscher Qualitäswein Franken slogan for spätburgunder. Rudolf May once again impressed with their Retzbach Benediktusberg but as I was about to pour myself a taste of the next wine, a Franken booth associate swooped in to slip me a Burgundy glass, so I knew this was going to be different. It was the next wine that taught me what Franken pinot noir can be.

Weingut Richard Östreicher Spätburgunder No. 1 Sommeracher Katzenkopf 2013, Franken, Germany (Winery, WineAlign)

No. 1 takes not only the estate’s best pinot noir pick but Franken spätburgunder and paradigmatic pinot noir to an entirely new level. The Katzenkopf (“cat’s head”) is Sommeracher’s best vineyard and it is Weingut Richard Östreicher that demands great respect. As I am about to pour myself a taste a ProWein Franken booth associate swoops in and slips me a Burgundy glass, so this must be different. Certainly an elegance and a refinement not seen yet. I’m thinking only on its perfume from the get go but this Franken sensibility is more important, a soil component that just acts of its own accord in the magic it brings to pinot noir. The compatibility of fruit and acidity with the finest grains of sweet and refined tannin is a revelation. The vintage is an important one to be sure and the firm but still amenably sweet finish mixed with a dash of tonic tells me about the longevity this No. 1 is capable to execute. Drink 2017-2027. Tasted March 2017 #richardöstreicher Richard Östreicher @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

The desparate grade of Ahr Valley vineyards

On day three of ProWein I jumped on the großer Magie Bus with 17 international journalists and headed for the Ahr Valley, one of Germany’s (of 13) furthest northern wine regions. With an area of 150 hectares (of 100,000 total in Germany), even the Mosel is not so far north. Our first visit was to Meyer-Näkel, a young winery in its third generation. Before that there was a winery (Meyer) and Näkel (restaurant). When the grandparents married the entities merged. In 1982 winemaker Meike Näkel’s father took the winery and her uncle the restaurant.

Michael and Meike

Starting out with two, now there are 20 hectares under vines. The slopes are ridiculously steep, prized for their blue slate soils and so difficult to work. Spätburgunder steals the Ahr Valley show and while Meyer-Näkel’s lieu-dit and grand cru (Großes Gewächs) are impassioned and important works, in Ontario you can find their affordable entry-level treat. It really is what basic German spätburgunder needs and is expected to be.

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder 2015, Deutscher Qualitätswein, Ahr Valley, Germany (427898, $26.25, WineAlign)

The entry-level pinot noir was bottled in the summer of 2016, after a hot season and dry elsewhere but in the Ahr it rained and it was cool overall. Picking was actually late and the aromatics show off the long, cool, floral temper. De-stemming and fermentation is immediately initialized but the maximum fermentation is 10 and usually six days. The pips are just a quick doo-wop to keep both green and bitter away. A focus on fruit, an absence of tannin and a pure varietal expression. Red trumps green, large wooden casks (15-20 years) also impart no tannin so the finality is simply cherry. That said, this carries some almond pit and green strawberry on the palate. It’s really what basic German spätburgunder is and expected to be. Nicely balanced and in at 13 per cent alcohol. Drink 2017-2019. Tasted March 2017 #MeyerNäkel @vonterrabev Weingut Meyer – Näkel vonterra @MeyerNaekel @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

Yet nothing could prepare me for what a former German wine queen would pour. Julia Bertram grew up in Dernau, gained experience at Meyer-Näkel and Klumpp. In 2013 she launched her own her vineyard with just half a hectare and now farms three and a half. Nothing fascinates her and the “SchlAhrVino” (association of young Ahr vintners) as much as ripe wines, especially pinot noir. Her whole bunch, wild ferment spätburgunder is nothing short of intense. The world should get ready for her alternative Ahr universe.

World get ready for #juliabertram and her alternative #ahr universe pinot noir @weininstitut #ahrvalley #spätburgunder #handwerk

Julia Bertram Spätburgunder Handwerk 2015, Ahrweiler, Germany (WineAlign)

Former German Wine Queen Julia Bertram grew up in Dernau, gained experience at Meyer-Näkel and Klumpp. In 2013 she launched her own her vineyard with just half a hectare and now farms three and a half. Nothing fascinates her and the “SchlAhrVino” (association of young Ahr vintners) as much as ripe wines, especially pinot noir. Her whole bunch, wild ferment spätburgunder is nothing short of intense. Bone dry, tart and spirited by crisp acidity, the young vines and used barrels deliver notes that are embattled in a spontaneous, natural, posit tug. The world should get ready for her alternative ahr universe pinot noir. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted March 2017 #juliabertram #juliabertram Julia Bertram @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

The next two were Rheinhessen days, first with five Appenheim village winemakers at Weingut Willems & Hoffman, followed by a visit to taste more deferential and singular spätburgunder at Weingut J. Neus. The single vineyard of Hudertgulden in Appenheim is one of the Rheinhessen’s finest. At Neus we got grippy with the muschelkalk soil meets spontaneous ferments from the team of Operations Manager Lewis Schmitt and agronomist/oenologist/winemaker/cellarmaster Julien Meissner’s pinot noir.

Weingut Knewitz Riesling Hundertgulden 2015, Rheinhessen, Germany (WineAlign)

From the Burgundy-like soils of this special rolling hills nook in the Rheinhessen, replete with shells and corrals, the Hundertgulden, “hundred guilders” is the most important single vineyard in all of Appenheim. The vintage trumps 2014 and nearly bone dry is still the operative in this super salty, linear, lengthy and age-worthy riesling. A true blue limestone vernacular is spoken and the stone simply slides and glides through the wine. Definitive of place, with leesy texture, elegant, balanced and seamlessly woven through. There is more lime zest and juice than the Appenheimer and more overall citrus tendency. The mirror of Appenheim. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted March 2017 #weingutknewitz weingutknewitz @Weingut.Knewitz @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

Getting grippy with #pinotnoir #jneus @weininstitut #spätburgunder #ingelheim #muschelkalk

Weingut J. Neus Spätburgunder Muschelkalk Alte Raben Trocken Ingelheim Am Rhein 2014, Rheinhessen, Germany (WineAlign)

From vines 25-40 years old, depending on which barrels are chosen for the final blend, off of the estate’s singular limestone muschelkalk soils. Even some 45 year-old vine fruit can be used, ferments kept separate, just as winemaker Julien Meissner will do with the Großes Gewächs. After tasting the younger vines spätburgunder and trocken first this acts less up front fruit forward, now spirited, of a phenolic tonic, variegated, characterful, open and spontaneous. Large (600 and 1000L) 100 per cent new oak barrels add char and spice to the rampant cherry, but also structure that takes you on the ride from background to foreground. “A strict style of pinot noir,” says Meissner, a cellar master who triples as agronomist and oenologist. Reduction begs for patience and time, tannins are taut and there is this minty, Mornington Peninsula pinot effect. Fruit, tannin, chalk and the conduit of Neuss acidity. The whole package. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted March 2017 @JNeus1881 jneus.ingelheim @J.Neus.Weingut.seit1881 @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

We moved away from the red wine thematic and into more familiar territory when we stopped in at Weingut Thörle for a visit with Christoph Thörle. The single-vineyard Hölle and Schlossberg rieslings are as exceptional as any in Germany but the Ontario presence of the Feinherb should never be overlooked.

Some of Germany’s finest #riesling coming to @TerroirTalk May 29th #thorle #Terroir2017 #christophthorle #saulheim #rheinhessen #terroirsymposium #holle #agotoronto

Thörle Riesling Feinherb 2016, Qualitätswein Rheinhessen, Germany (420091, $18.95, WineAlign)

Off-dry riesling does not always have to be bottled as such but in the Rheinhessen and at Thörle the category of Feinherb is anything but an afterthought. This started as a side fermentation in its first years but is now an important wine in the estate’s multi-tiered processes. The cuvée is gathered from younger vines plus one barrel of premier cru Saulheim fruit. A slight skin maceration (12-18 hours) is employed which helps to temper the tartaric acid though this will be swapped for whole bunch fermentation in warmer years. Hides some of its sugar, especially on the nose which is quite floral, of white flowers and honeysuckle. Honey and wax with sweet herbs bring all into playful light to taste, with plenty of sweet lime and lik-a-maid sour touches. For every Indian Food list in the world. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted March 2017 Weingut Thörle @WeingutThoerleGabsheim @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

On our last day in the Rheinhessen we stopped in at Weingut Manz and if you ever find yourself in their tasting room, expect a multi-varietal experience. On any given day you may taste weissburgunder (pinot blanc), riesling, grauburgunder (pinot gris), sauvignon blanc, spätburgunder (pinot noir), merlot, cabernet sauvignon and finally, huxelrebe trockenbeerenauslese. On this day it was the wines spoke to the territorial low yields and late harvest work of Eric Manz.

#goodcombo #weingutmanz #rieslingauslese #herrenberg #restaurantvolker #oppenheim

Weingut Manz Riesling Spätlese Trocken Kehr, Weinolsheimer 2015, Rheinhessen, Germany (WineAlign)

The Kehr from Eric Manz is riesling of extremely low yields and a late harvest for what shines to be high in complexity and aging potential. Generous skin contact and even more so in lees action effect makes this quite different than the Kehr “M” but also the Herrenberg Trocken Spätlese. With the sugar here remaining in line with the Hipping (Niersteiner) it is the high acidity that drives the Kehr machine. This seems less arid than the Hipping, more energetic and more reductive than the “M.” Higher potential for aging with so much lime cordial sparkles and brings spirit that will persist into a petrol and honey future that would have to be bright. Drink 2019-2026. Tasted March 2017 #weingutmanz Weingut Manz Weinolsheim @weingut.manz.weinolsheim @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

I don’t always taste #roterhang Riesling but when I do it has to be in the #fockenberghütte

The week in Germany saw virtually no sun, that is until the final morning outdoors above the Rhein River under the shelter of the Fockenberghütte. Here we tasted the Nierstien wines of Weingut Domtalhof, St. Antony and Louis Guntrum with our charismatic M.C. Konstantin Guntrum. We walked the famed Roter Hang Vineyard and had the great fortune to taste Guntrum’s ethereal 1976 Neisteiner Heilgen riesling. Guntrum wears the passion for his home vineyard in his expression, on his sleeve and by the way he walks. “Roter Hang is a geological statement,” he explains. Red soils of friable sandstone, steep and breathtaking. Nierstein is the portal into which you can peer to wonder about great riesling grown above the Rhein.

Weingut Louis Guntrum Riesling Trocken Nierstein Oelberg 2015, Rheinhessen, Germany (WineAlign)

Nierstein’s Oelberg is for vintner Konstantin Guntrum a changing landscape, of different light and greater fog. This dry riesling gives off the sense of intelligence and so grabs your attention and demands your concentration. It also solicits conversation. Takes its time to open up, with no petrol note but the grace of mineral is back there. Lean but slowly changing and developing in just the short time in glass, the charm envelops your sense of smell and taste, renders them keen and then you give it up for the aftertaste and the persistence. While the layers will not yet peel away they will, though may need two full years to do so. Forget the need for immediate gratification because this one is mineral skin deep. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted March 2017 @LouisGuntrum #louisguntrum Weingut Louis Guntrum @weininstitut @WinesofGermany @germanwineca germanwine_ca wines_of_germany @germanwinecanada

When you see one grand cru you’ve seen another grand cru #nierstein #rheinhessen #rhein #roterhang

The German wine experience is owed great thanks to Stefan Egge, Christiane Schorn, Brigitte Küppers, Michael Mandel and Carola Keller of ProWein press department, Messe Düsseldorf and Wines of Germany. I have been on many Press trips over the years and the organization in Germany was second to none. I will now begin looking forward to ProWein 2018. Until then.

Good to go!

Godello

Twitter: @mgodello

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Godello

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