Winemaker Notes
Contrada C is very open and enveloping. The nose is fruity and slightly spicy, with red fruit, sour cherries, hints of violet and wildflowers—deep and graceful. The palate confirms the olfactory sensations, with remarkable structure and a savory finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Contrada C has expressive notes coming from Chiappemacine, with volcanic and calcareous limestone soils. It lifts with lovely, floral, perfumed notes of ripe raspberries, roses, and savory, fresh herbs. Medium-bodied, it exhibits great expressiveness on the palate, with mouthwatering salinity, a mineral-tinged, gripping texture, and a long finish. Finessed, it has compact intensity and a focused and linear feel, and its mineral persistence is incredible. Drink 2026-2046.
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Decanter
Tight and bright, with sturdy tannins, saline cherry and blood orange, and a ferrous touch on the finish. From contrada Chiappemacine, at 550 metres above sea level in Passopisciaro. These wines always need a bit of time to show at their best.
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Vinous
A mix of spiced cherries, woodland berries, cedar shavings and cloves defines the 2023 Rosso Contrada C. This possesses a core of silken textures and a blend of red and blue fruits, cool-toned and pliant as an air of lavender pastille forms toward the close. It tapers off pleasantly tart and full of tension, with sweet, rounded 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.