Winemaker Notes
Ruby red in color. Ethereal, intense scent with hints of wild berries, peach and noble wood. Full, harmonic, taste, considerably persistent and reasonably tannic.
Blend: 85% Nerello Mascalese, 15% Nerello Cappuccio
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
What fantastic aromas of dried flowers, cloves, smoke, and cherries. The wine is medium-bodied with creamy and round tannins that are polished and beautiful. Flavorful.
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Decanter
It shines for its gorgeous wild strawberry perfume, woody and delicate. In the mouth it shows its tight, vertical structure and intense, vibrant and concentrated red fruits, with dusty, woody and balsamic nuances. Light on its feet despite its obvious power and heft, this deserves more time in bottle before opening.
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Vinous
Crushed rocks, rose petals and dried strawberries form a dusty and darkly alluring bouquet as the 2017 Etna Rosso Riserva Serra della Contessa Particella No. 587 grumbles up from the glass. It's silky-smooth and elegant in style. Polished red fruits and mineral tones add traction under an air of violet inner florals. Hints of sour citrus combine with a bump of residual acidity to add balance, even as grippy tannins clamp down hard through the long and structured finale.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Enthusiast
The nose effortlessly blends savory aromas of soil, clean wood and salt with the semisweet astringency of hibiscus, rose petals and wild strawberries. On the palate, raspberries briefly bolster the strawberry, before a powerful earthiness takes over. Acid brings a glint of spice as it sparks off polished, smooth tannins.
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Wine Spectator
An enticing red, with aromas of clove, cardamom, crushed pine and dried tea rose drawing you into the glass, where the fragrant thread winds through a silky mesh of plumped cherry, dried strawberry and minerally earth and iron notes. Graceful and harmonious, showing fine, sculpted tannins and a long, fresh finish. Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio.
At the end of the 1800’s, Giuseppe Benanti, grandfather of Dr. Giuseppe Benanti, began the production of wines on one of his father’s old farms on the slopes of Mount Etna, at Viagrande (Catania). In 1988, Giuseppe Benanti revived the family’s old passion, with an extensive and selective study of the Etnean soils highly devoted to viticulture. He also investigated particular clones of indigenous vines and new oenological techniques to reproduce ancient fragrances using the most modern practices of vinification, in a perfect union of history and reality. From this five year study, wines of unique taste were produced recreating old flavors and keeping them intact over time.
Our wines have a strong personality and carry the culture and passion for wine of the Benanti family, always driven by respect for the places, terroir and old 'palmenti'. This passion, after revealing the marvels of the Etnean territory, has guided them to Pantelleria and then Pachino. Today the company, also run by Giuseppe Benanti’s sons, Antonio and Salvino, is placed in a market range of high quality level products and the request for its wines is strongly increasing. This is mainly due to the quality of its wines, known throughout Italy and abroad, and attested by many awards given annually by the most important national and international competitions.
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.