Winemaker Notes
Ruby red, delicate and incredibly balanced on the nose, clear hints of red berries, flowers, perfectly integrated to a minerality and evolution worthy of a great wine. Great structure on the mouth with a surprising drinkability and elegance.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Vibrant and spicy with red cherries, strawberries, cinnamon and blood oranges. Smooth and medium-bodied with crisp acidity and ripe, velvety tannins. Tense, chewy finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
All Nerello Mascalese, the 2021 Etna Rosso Pietrarizzo was aged for one year in large French oak and offers ripe raspberries, strawberries, attractive floral, sweet spice, and fresh Mediterranean herbs. The palate is snappy, and while it's approachable now, it has more angular structure and a crunchy freshness, with well-defined, chalky tannins and a stony, mineral finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine draws its fruit from a site at 650 meters in elevation on the ashy slopes of Mount Etna. The Tornatore 2021 Etna Rosso Pietrarizzo offers good tension and a mid-weight texture with bright aromas of dried cherry, cassis and crushed flower. It offers an immediate and accessible taste of the mineral-driven wines of this mighty Sicilian volcano.
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.