Winemaker Notes
Modern and precise, with notes of strawberry, red plum, mandarin orange zest and wild thyme. Medium-full body, soft tannins and a stunning finish. Magnificent even right away.
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
A brand new release from Pietradolce with this 2019 vintage, Feudo di Mezzo is from vines located at 650m near Passopisciaro. Rich and earthy with balsamic black cherry and red berry perfume, it's very juicy, moreish and intense in the mouth. Vertical and saline hedgerow fruits are accompanied by wood and spice hints, refined tannins and that lovely balsamic line running through.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Here's a new wine from Michele Faro and the team at Pietradolce. The 2019 Etna Rosso Contrada Feudo di Mezzo offers a soft entry to the palate with an open-knit texture and more accessible fruit compared to some of the other contrada-specific wines from this estate, such as Contrada Rampante and Contrada Santo Spirito. The wine ends with silky tannins, wild berry, rose and crushed stone. There is sweet violet as well.
-
Wine & Spirits
This is a rich and ripe Etna Rosso, its flavors of warmed strawberry and plum layered with dark smoky notes. The grippy tannins are raspy and slightly rustic, yet the wine shows good energy and verticality, a structure that should maintain it over the next several years.
-
Wine Spectator
Floral and fragrant on the nose, this enticing red shows a beam of plumped cherry, with hints sandalwood, anise and clove, plus notes of fresh earth and mineral. Framed by creamy tannins and racy acidity, this expands on the palate and lingers on the finish. Drink now through 2029.
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.