Alta Mora Etna Rosso 2016
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker - Decanter
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Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Ruby red in color, this wine has spicy pepper aromas with notes of black currant and mountain herbs. The texture is vibrant and with soft, supple tannins, reminiscent of a great Pinot Noir.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
From the moment you hang your nose in the glass, it’s clear that there are plenty of ripe plums, but not the slightest hint of prune character. However, there is a ton of subtle, herbal nuances in here, too. Powerful and concentrated with plenty of healthy tannins that carry the long, dry finish. Drink or hold.
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Jeb Dunnuck
In the same mold, the 2016 Etna Rosso offers a rocking perfume of blueberries, wild strawberries, garrigue, and damp earth-like minerality. This incredibly perfumed, floral wine hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, a tight, focused texture, terrific purity, and a great finish. As with the 2015, it's not a massive wine and has an almost Pinot Noir-like elegance and weight. It's another singular effort to drink over the coming 5-7+ years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This was a challenging vintage on Etna that showed uneven results across different areas of the volcano. The 2016 Etna Rosso defies those difficulties to show steady aromas of wild berry, rose and blue flower. The wine is dry and almost dusty on the finish with generous flinty mineral tones. Some 40,200 bottles were produced.
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Decanter
The Cusumano brothers have a well-respected, internationally distributed brand of Sicilian wines, and in 2013 began this venture on Etna, buying well-known single vineyards and constructing a modern gravity-fed winery. This bottling shows muted raspberry aromas – it’s medium-bodied and silky, but spicy and vigorous, and doesn’t lack concentration or flesh. Fine acidity and length too.
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Wine Spectator
An elegant, light- to medium-bodied red, this shows fine balance, integrating light, taut tannins with a subtle mesh of ripe raspberry, cranberry and citrus notes, accented by dried thyme and tar-tinged smoke. Drink now through 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
Strawberry, wild rose, citrus and Mediterranean herb aromas take center stage on this fragrant red. Reflecting the nose, the focused, vibrant palate offers pomegranate, blood orange, star anise and hint of espresso alongside firm acidity and fine grained tannins. Drink 2020–2026.
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Wine & Spirits
Alta Mora is the Etna project of the Cusumano family, owners of some 1,200 acres across the island of Sicily. This is the fifth vintage of their Etna Rosso, made with grapes selected from vines averaging 20 years of age, and aged in large oak casks. The wine offers flavors of ripe plum and black cherry limned with notes of salt and fresh herbs, finishing with hints of dark chocolate and salted nuts. §
Other Vintages
2020-
James
Suckling
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
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Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
It has been a lifelong dream for the Cusumano brothers to build a winery among the black, fertile soils of Mt. Etna. In April 2013, after years of searching, there appeared a unique opportunity to acquire the first three contrade on the northern slopes of Etna. From there a continually evolving project began with the reconstruction of the traditional dry stone walls of the terraces of Guardiola – the contrada (district) whose stunning beauty nurtures the underlying motivation and inspiration and whose name is given to the entire project: ALTA MORA.
The name Alta Mora translates to “High, Black” representing the great heights and dark soils of Mt. Etna. The volcano itself is nearly 11,000ft high and vineyards are planted up to 4,000ft high! The Alta Mora project truly captures the essence of the Cusumano family. They believe in taking great risk to produce great, unique wines!
Alta Mora grapes are 100% estate grown and hand harvested. The Cusumano family treats each wine as an artisanal piece of art and strives for pristine results in every bottle. To do so, they consult with renowned oenologist, Mario Ronco, who is equally ambitious about innovation and meticulous about winemaking techniques.
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.