Winemaker Notes
Spicy pepper aromas with black currant and hints of mountain herbs. Vibrant and intense with well-integrated tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Etna Rosso is also beautiful, with a Nebbiolo-like nose of ripe cherries, tar, dried rose petals, and spice. Medium-bodied, rounded, and sexy on the palate, it's a hypothetical mix of Nebbiolo and Grenache (or Oregon Pinot Noir). Drink it over the coming 7-8 years.
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James Suckling
Aromas of lemon, watermelon and black cherries follow through to a medium body, firm, silky tannins and a solid, bright finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Etna Rosso is a terrific entry-level red wine from the Sicilian volcano that boasts the power and electric charge that I associate with wines from this fascinating territory. If you are new to the wines of Etna, this Rosso is a great place to start. This is a well-made and carefully shaped Nerello Mascalese (aged in large oak casks for eight months) that ushers forth smaller berry fruit, smoke and pencil shavings. The fruit is pure and precise. The wine's overall presentation is sharp and accessible. This is a blend of grapes from various contrade, including Verzella, Guardiola, Solicchiata and Feudo di Mezzo.
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Wine Spectator
compact, minerally version, with tobacco and smoke notes leading to flavors of dried cherry, pomegranate, coffee and spice. Medium-bodied and fresh, with grippy tannins that should integrate well with short cellaring.
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Wine Enthusiast
Coconut and hazelnut aromas mingle with ripe, dark-skinned berry aromas. Reflecting the nose, the tight palate offers toast, licorice and blackberry jam alongside tightly knit, drying tannins.
Extending across the variable volcanic soils of the slopes of Mt. Etna at some of the highest vineyard altitudes in all of Europe—up to 3,300 feet—Nerello Mascalese is one of Sicily’s most noble red varieties. It makes a beautifully aromatic, firm, cellar-worthy but pale-hued red often comparable to a fine Burgundy or Barbaresco. Somm Secret—Nerello Mascalese takes its name from the black color of its grapes, nerello, and the Mascali plain between Mt. Etna and the coast where it is believed to have originated.
A large, geographically and climatically diverse island, just off the toe of Italy, Sicily has long been recognized for its fortified Marsala wines. But it is also a wonderful source of diverse, high quality red and white wines. Steadily increasing in popularity over the past few decades, Italy’s fourth largest wine-producing region is finally receiving the accolades it deserves and shining in today's global market.
Though most think of the climate here as simply hot and dry, variations on this sun-drenched island range from cool Mediterranean along the coastlines to more extreme in its inland zones. Of particular note are the various microclimates of Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, where vineyards grow on drastically steep hillsides and varying aspects to the Ionian Sea. The more noteworthy red and white Sicilian wines that come from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna include Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (reds) and Carricante (whites). All share a racy streak of minerality and, at their best, bear resemblance to their respective red and white Burgundies.
Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted red variety, and is great either as single varietal bottling or in blends with other indigenous varieties or even with international ones. For example, Nero d'Avola is blended with the lighter and floral, Frappato grape, to create the elegant, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, one of the more traditional and respected Sicilian wines of the island.
Grillo and Inzolia, the grapes of Marsala, are also used to produce aromatic, crisp dry Sicilian white. Pantelleria, a subtropical island belonging to the province of Sicily, specializes in Moscato di Pantelleria, made from the variety locally known as Zibibbo.