Tag: sicily

A Must-Try to Spice up Your Rosé Game

Today’s Story: Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta delle Terre Nere is a somewhat young but highly regarded wine estate founded by Marc de Grazia on the northern slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily. The first commercial vintage was in 2002, and the estate focuses on local Sicilian varieties with Nerello Mascalese and Carricante of principal importance. The estate today consists of about 55 hectares, of which 27 hectares are planted to vines in production and 7 hectares are breeding. The holdings are broken up into 24 parcels across six crus and range in elevation from 600 to 1,000 meters above sea level, with an ultimate plan to reach 38 hectares planted to vine. Aside from the 7 hectares recently planted, Terre Nere works with vines aged 50 to 100 years old, and the estate even has one parcel that survived phylloxera and is 130-140 years old!

Marc de Grazia has long been a proponent of single cru Etna wines, so he vinifies, ages, bottles, and labels each of his crus individually. These include Calderara Sottana, San Lorenzo, Bocca d’Orzo, Santo Spirito, Guardiola, and Feudo di Mezzo. All viticulture has been organic since Terre Nere was established (certified in 2010), and the prior owners farmed their vineyards organically for the previous two generations as well. Winemaking is meant to be minimally invasive, allowing de Grazia to showcase the unique Etna terroir in all of his wines.

To learn more, view images of the estate and vineyards, or explore the range of wines from Tenuta delle Terre Nere, I recommend visiting their website here. I also previously reviewed their 2019 Etna Bianco if you care to explore or revisit my thoughts on another wine in the portfolio.

Today’s Wine: 2020 Etna Rosato

100% Nerello Mascalese; 13% ABV

The 2020 Etna Rosato is pale copper in color, rather light for many rosé wines I’ve enjoyed. The aromas are of medium intensity, but the rather complex nose shows itself over time with notes of white strawberry, cherry, peach, raspberry, cured charcuterie meat, rose petal, flint, and saline mineral. Meanwhile the flavors are also of medium intensity and the palate displays notes of Rainier cherry, freshly-picked strawberry, peach, cantaloupe, chopped green herbs, crushed rock, sea salt, and white pepper. This dry rosé is medium-bodied though very crisp and lean with high acidity, medium alcohol, and a long finish.

Price: $23. I think this is a great buy, as it offers beautiful balance, length, and complexity while being immensely chuggable on a hot day. This is the most fun, delicious, and rock-solid rosé I’ve had in a long, long time and I’ll be buying more as soon as I can.

An Etna Rosso to Introduce You to Etna Rosso

Today’s Story: Girolamo Russo

Girolamo Russo is a family-owned and operated wine estate located near the town of Passopisciaro on the north side of Mt. Etna in Sicily, Italy. The estate was “re-established” by Giuseppe Russo in 2005 who, though formerly a pianist, desired to continue his family’s tradition of winegrowing and named the estate in honor of his father. Girolamo Russo consists of 18 hectares of vineyards situated between 650 and 780 meters (2,132 and 2,559 feet) above sea level, with all farmed adhering to organic viticulture. Russo grows fruit in the crus of San Lorenzo, Feudo, and Feudo di Mezzo with many vines being a century old. In culmination with a minimally invasive winemaking philosophy that includes fermentation with indigenous yeasts and minimal oak influence, the wines are often described as pure representations of place.

Today’s Wine: 2018 Etna Rosso ‘a Rina

94% Nerello Mascalese, 6% Nerello Cappuccio; 13.5% ABV

The 2018 ‘a Rina is medium garnet in color with hints of pale ruby. I decanted this for about an hour but drank it over several. The aromas are of medium (+) intensity, with the nose showcasing notes of red cherry, stemmy strawberry, orange rind, a hint of rose petal, thyme, volcanic earth, mild smoke, and slight peppery spice. Meanwhile the flavors are of medium intensity and the palate displays notes of dried cherry, cranberry, dried strawberry, licorice, tobacco, leather, crushed gravel, cracked pepper, and stony mineral. This dry red is medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, medium but fine-grained tannins, medium (+) alcohol, and a medium (+) length finish.

Price: $32. I think this offers pretty solid value for Etna Rosso, as it demonstrates good balance, intensity, complexity, and an obvious sense of place. Though it isn’t the best Etna Rosso I’ve had, for the price this is worth trying.

Fun Sicilian Amber Wine That Needs a Few More Years

Today’s Story: Azienda Agricola COS

Azienda Agricola COS is a revered wine estate established in 1980 in Vittoria on the Italian island of Sicily. COS was established by three friends, Giambattista Cilia, Giusto Occhipinti, and Cirino Strano, with the first letter of their last names creating the acronym of COS for which the project is named. COS is largely considered a pioneer and champion for Sicilian wines, namely seeking to prove that world-class and high-quality wines can come from the island. COS farms all of their vineyards adhering to organic and biodynamic principles, and they have never used synthetic or chemical fertilizers throughout the life of the venture. This philosophy carries over into the cellar as well, where the wines are made as naturally as possible. For instance, COS is an adopter of clay amphorae dug into the ground for aging because Occhipinti believes them to be a vessel that doesn’t mask any terroir-driven element of the wines. For any bottlings that do not age in amphorae, they use large neutral Slavonian oak botti or concrete tanks to similar effect. All wines see extended maceration, including the whites, which Occhipinti uses as natural preservative so zero sulphur needs to be added during winemaking and at most a minimal dose is added at bottling.

I previously wrote about the 2014 Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico delle Fontane from COS, which is a fun wine made from 60% Nero d’Avola and 40% Frappato.

Today’s Wine: 2019 Pithos Bianco

100% Grecanico; 11% ABV

The 2019 Pithos Bianco is pale amber in color. Given some time to blossom in the glass, the aromas are of medium (+) intensity and the nose showcases notes of orange rind, apricot, tangerine, peach skins, honeysuckle, delicate dried green herbs, honeycomb, and finely crushed rock. Meanwhile the flavors are of medium intensity and the palate displays notes of peach, tangerine, apricot, melon, honey, saline, and crushed rock minerality. This dry amber wine is medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, medium (-) tannins, medium (-) alcohol, and a long finish. Quite good, though this is lacking some intensity I was hoping for and I will be curious to see how this develops over the next several years.

Price: $35 (closer to $20 in Europe). This is a very good value closer to the prices found in Europe, however for an average price of $35 in the US (I paid $40) I think this is just okay in value terms. The nose is gorgeous and quite complex, though the palate is lacking in intensity for me to really wow me. Given the acidity, great balance, and length though this should only improve.

Take Heed, Terroir Lovers

Today’s Story: Azienda Agricola COS

Azienda Agricola COS is a revered wine estate established in 1980 in Vittoria on the Italian island of Sicily. COS was established by three friends, Giambattista Cilia, Giusto Occhipinti, and Cirino Strano, with the first letter of their last names creating the acronym of COS for which the project is named. COS is largely considered a pioneer and champion for Sicilian wines, namely seeking to prove that world-class and high-quality wines can come from the island. COS farms all of their vineyards adhering to organic and biodynamic principles, and they have never used synthetic or chemical fertilizers throughout the life of the venture. This philosophy carries over into the cellar as well, where the wines are made as naturally as possible. For instance, COS is an adopter of clay amphorae dug into the ground for aging because Occhipinti believes them to be a vessel that doesn’t mask any terroir-driven element of the wines. For any bottlings that do not age in amphorae, they use large neutral Slavonian oak botti or concrete tanks to similar effect. All wines see extended maceration, including the whites, which Occhipinti uses as natural preservative so zero sulphur needs to be added during winemaking and at most a minimal dose is added at bottling.

Today’s Wine: 2014 Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico delle Fontane

60% Nero d’Avola, 40% Frappato; 13% ABV

The 2014 Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico delle Fontane is medium garnet in color. I elected not to decant this wine because it seemed fairly expressive out of the bottle, though it did really open up after about 30 minutes in the glass. The aromas are of pronounced intensity and the nose is rather complex, showcasing notes of dried cherry, strawberry, red plum, anise, a hint of brett, leather, forest floor, green herbs, eucalyptus, and crushed volcanic rock. The flavors are also of pronounced intensity and the palate is equally complex, displaying notes of black raspberry, tart cherry, red plum, licorice, brett, cured meat, damp tobacco, truffle, forest floor, and mineral. This dry red is medium-bodied with high acidity, medium (+) dusty tannins, medium alcohol, and a long finish. Though there is fruit, this is so terroir-driven you can practically smell and taste the earth where these grapes grow.

Price: $45. For me, this is a great value wine but I love the terroir-driven profile of it. This strikes me as a wine people would either love or hate, and I would encourage the jammy-fruit-bomb lovers to look elsewhere unless you are looking to expand your horizons. This wine’s intensity, complexity, and transparent sense of place are all remarkable to me and I would highly suggest trying this if the profile seems to fit your palate.

Fun Representation of Sicilian Terroir

Today’s Story: Azienda Agricola Arianna Occhipinti

Azienda Agricola Arianna Occhipinti is a continuously rising star of a winery established by Arianna Occhipinti in the Vittoria region of southeastern Sicily in 2004. Though Arianna started making her own wines at the young age of 22, she first got into wine even younger at age 16 thanks to a visit to Vinitaly with her uncle Giusto Occhipinti of COS, another benchmark Sicilian wine producer. Today Arianna works with estate fruit, sourced from her 25 hectares of certified organic vineyards which are planted to about 50% Frappato, 35% Nero d’Avola, and 15% between the white varieties of Albanello and Zibibbo. Arianna never irrigates her vineyards or uses any chemicals, and since 2009 she transitioned to biodynamic viticulture. As far as philosophy goes, Arianna’s wines are meant to showcase the terroir of Vittoria, and they are made in as “natural” a way as possible. Vineyard work is very manual, all grape and wine movements use gravity, and the wines ferment with only indigenous yeasts in concrete tanks before aging in neutral oak. Arianna produces ten wines (including three single-vineyard bottlings called Vino di Contrada) and total production each vintage is around 10,000 cases.

I somewhat recently reviewed the Occhipinti 2019 SP68 Rosso, so feel free to check that out if you missed it!

Today’s Wine: 2018 Il Frappato

100% Frappato; 12.5% ABV

The 2018 Il Frappato is pale to medium ruby in color. This is still very youthful and requires a good 45 minutes to blossom in the glass, though it’s already showing a very elegant representation of Frappato. The aromas are of pronounced intensity, showcasing a nose of strawberry, red cherry, leather, clay pot, tilled rocky soil, charred savory green herbs, mild chocolate, exotic spices, and clove. Meanwhile the flavors are also of pronounced intensity, with the palate displaying notes of dried strawberry, tart cherry, pomegranate, anise, sweet tobacco, ground green herbs, clove, and white pepper. This dry red is light- to medium-bodied with medium acidity, medium (-) tannins, medium alcohol, and a medium length finish. Certainly has the stuffing to go a few more years, but it is rather delightful and hard to resist already.

Price: $45 average in the US (cheaper in Europe). I haven’t had enough 100% Frappato to say how this compares to other representations of the variety, however compared to other wines of a similar price-point I think this offers great value. This drinks so pure and shows a lot of complexity for its age already, all while being decidedly high quality and a great representation of the terroir.

Fun Sicilian Blend From a Rising Star

Today’s Story: Azienda Agricola Arianna Occhipinti

Azienda Agricola Arianna Occhipinti is a continuously rising star of a winery established by Arianna Occhipinti in the Vittoria region of southeastern Sicily in 2004. Though Arianna started making her own wines at the young age of 22, she first got into wine even younger at age 16 thanks to a visit to Vinitaly with her uncle Giusto Occhipinti of COS, another benchmark Sicilian wine producer. Today Arianna works with estate fruit, sourced from her 25 hectares of certified organic vineyards which are planted to about 50% Frappato, 35% Nero d’Avola, and 15% between the white varieties of Albanello and Zibibbo. Arianna never irrigates her vineyards or uses any chemicals, and since 2009 she transitioned to biodynamic viticulture. As far as philosophy goes, Arianna’s wines are meant to showcase the terroir of Vittoria, and they are made in as “natural” a way as possible. Vineyard work is very manual, all grape and wine movements use gravity, and the wines ferment with only indigenous yeasts in concrete tanks before aging in neutral oak. Arianna produces ten wines (including three single-vineyard bottlings called Vino di Contrada) and total production each vintage is around 10,000 cases.

To learn more or view the portfolio of Occhipinti wines in more depth, I recommend visiting the website here.

Today’s Wine: 2019 SP68 Rosso

70% Frappato, 30% Nero d’Avola; 12.5% ABV

The 2019 SP68 Rosso is medium ruby in color. Given about 30-45 minutes to open up in the glass, the nose offers up aromas of red cherry, dried strawberry, red rose, mild tobacco, gravel, dried garden herbs, and scorched earth with medium intensity. Meanwhile the flavors on the palate are also of medium intensity, showcasing notes of pomegranate, red plum, tart cherry, candied rose, eucalyptus, white pepper, and crushed rock minerality. This dry red is light- to medium-bodied with medium acidity, medium (-) tannins, medium alcohol, and a medium (+) length finish.

Price: $28. I think this offers pretty solid value for the price. Even though I would prefer a bit more intensity out of it, the balance, length, and complexity of the wine all shine and should only get better in another year or two. Very easy to drink, so the bottle didn’t last long.

Beautiful Representation of Chardonnay From Sicily

Today’s Story: Planeta Winery

Planeta is a large, family-owned and operated Sicilian wine estate that actually consists of six separate estates spread across Sambuca di Sicilia, Menfi, Vittoria, Noto, Etna, and Capo Milazzo. Though the Planeta family has been involved in Sicilian agriculture and viticulture for five centuries and 17 generations, they built their first winery under the Planeta Winery label only in 1995. Cousins Alessio and Santi Planeta founded the venture with their uncle Diego Planeta, who was already a well-established and highly regarded individual in the Sicilian wine world (particularly for his time with the Settesoli wine cooperative). Planeta is a major innovator when it comes to increasing quality of Sicilian wines, utilizing their vast terroir portfolio to trumpet both native and international varieties best suited for each individual site. Sustainability is a major push for Planeta, and they farm all vineyards with this in mind. Meanwhile winemaking can best be described as “open-minded,” a term that while vague speaks to the mission of producing wines with a sense of place and from the best varieties possible for each distinct estate.

To explore each estate in depth, peruse the extensive portfolio of wines, or simply view pictures of the incredible Planeta vineyards, I encourage you to visit their website here.

Today’s Wine: 2018 Chardonnay

100% Chardonnay; 14% ABV

The 2018 Chardonnay is pale to medium gold in color. Given some time to blossom in the glass, the aromas are of pronounced intensity and include ripe yellow apple, stone fruit, lemon zest, pineapple, vanilla cream, a hint of butter, and clove. Meanwhile the flavors on the palate are also of pronounced intensity, showcasing notes of yellow apple, pineapple, peach, white florals, butter, vanilla, clove, and crushed rock minerality. This dry Chardonnay is medium- to full-bodied with medium (+) acidity, high alcohol, and a medium (+) length finish. Comes across fairly Burgundian.

Price: $36. I think this actually offers pretty solid value, especially compared to the California Chardonnay and white Burgundy I tasted alongside it (they were 80% and 40% more expensive, respectively). The intensity and balance in this wine are quite good, and it should only improve with another 3-5 years in the bottle.

Refreshing Etna Bianco With a True Sense of Place

Today’s Story: Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta delle Terre Nere is a somewhat young but highly regarded winery and estate founded by Marc de Grazia on the northern slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily. Tenuta delle Terre Nere produced its first commercial vintage in 2002, and the estate focuses on local Sicilian varieties with Nerello Mascalese and Carricante of principal importance. The estate today consists of about 55 hectares, of which 27 hectares are planted to vines in production and 7 hectares are breeding. The holdings are broken up into 24 parcels across six crus and range in elevation from 600 to 1,000 meters above sea level, with an ultimate plan to reach 38 hectares planted to vine. Aside from the 7 hectares recently planted, Terre Nere works with vines aged 50 to 100 years old, and the estate even has one parcel that survived phylloxera and is 130-140 years old! Marc de Grazia has long been a proponent of single cru Etna wines, so he vinifies, ages, bottles, and labels each of his crus individually. These include Calderara Sottana, San Lorenzo, Bocca d’Orzo, Santo Spirito, Guardiola, and Feudo di Mezzo. All viticulture has been organic since Terre Nere was established (certified in 2010), and the prior owners farmed their vineyards organically for the previous two generations as well. Winemaking is meant to be minimally invasive, allowing de Grazia to showcase the unique Etna terroir in all of his wines.

To learn more, view images of the estate and vineyards, or explore the range of wines from Tenuta delle Terre Nere, I recommend visiting their website here.

Today’s Wine: 2019 Etna Bianco

60% Carricante, 25% Catarratto, 10% Grecanico, 5% Minnella; 12.5% ABV

The 2019 Etna Bianco is pale yellow in color and transparent. Aroma intensity on the nose is rather light, and this took some effort to pull out notes of crisp underripe pear, meyer lemon, white peach, white florals, dried herbs, mild cheese, and volcanic minerality. Meanwhile the palate offers medium intensity, showcasing notes of crisp yellow apple, lemon curd, white grapefruit, lime zest, underripe pineapple, honeysuckle, and saline. This dry white is light- to medium-bodied with high acidity, medium alcohol, and a medium (+) length finish. Very crisp and refreshing, and it seems like it’d be a good pairing for oysters.

Price: $25. I would like to see some more intensity out of this wine, though perhaps it will evolve in the bottle over the next few years. Nonetheless, this is a good Carricante-dominant wine showcasing its sense of place well for the price.

Young but Beautifully Complex Etna Rosso

Today’s Story: Passopisciaro – Vini Franchetti

Passopisciaro is a highly regarded wine estate founded in 2000 by Andrea Franchetti on the northern slopes of Mount Etna. Franchetti purchased an old farm and cellars at about 1,000 meters up the volcano and they desperately needed restoration, clearing, and replanting of the vineyards. Franchetti was somewhat instrumental in the renaissance for Etna winemaking, taking great risk by working on an active volcano surrounded by ancient estates long abandoned due to lava flow. He focuses primarily on the native Nerello Mascalese variety, but grows Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, and Cesanese d’Affile as well between roughly 600 meters and 1,100 meters in elevation.

Today, Passopisciaro consists of 26 hectares planted to Nerello Mascalese, 4 hectares planted to Chardonnay, and 2 hectares of Petit Verdot and Cesanese d’Affile. Franchetti makes six wines with 100% Nerello Mascalese, and they range from the Passorosso (blended from various elevations and terroirs) to five different Cru, or Contrada as they are known on Etna, bottlings he introduced in 2008. The five Contrada bottlings of Chiappemacine, Porcaria, Guardiola, Sciaranuova, and Rampante come from different elevations and are planted in varying lava flows that offer unique mineral characteristics. His red blend of Petit Verdot and Cesanese d’Affile, called Franchetti, entered the portfolio in 2005 and his Chardonnay, called Passobianco, entered in 2007.

Winemaking is without a doubt very unique on Mount Etna for a number of factors. First, the fact that this is an active volcano with frequent smoke plumes and lava flows which can destroy vines…or worse. Second, the elevation stretches to 3,300 meters on Mount Etna and even vines planted 1/3 of the way up face winds and drastic temperature swings, though it does stay cooler and help produce more complex and elegant wines. And third, the soil is naturally very rocky and volcanic and, due to its black color, diffuses sunlight across and throughout the ground to provide additional indirect sunlight to the vines. Franchetti seems to have mastered these elements, crafting wines with a true sense of place, great depth and complexity, and beautiful purity of fruit.

Today’s Wine: 2017 Passorosso Etna Rosso

100% Nerello Mascalese; 14.5% ABV

The 2017 Passorosso Etna Rosso is translucent medium ruby in color. Given about an hour to open up, the wine showcases a surprisingly deep nose of red cherry, raspberry, strawberry, black plum, red rose, leather, scorched volcanic earth, black pepper, dried green herbs, cocoa powder, and cedar with pronounced intensity. Meanwhile on the palate I get notes of cranberry, sour red cherry, pomegranate, blood orange, licorice, violet, tobacco, smoke, crushed rock mineral, and chocolate. This dry red is full-bodied with high acidity, high tannins, and a long finish. Very young, and the tannin and alcohol should integrate beautifully with a couple more years of bottle age.

Price: $35. I think this is a great value, especially given how beautifully it drinks at such a young age. Give this one or two more years to better integrate the alcohol and tannin, but this certainly has the stuffing to drink well for the next 5+ years.

New Etna Rosso From Two Great Wine Families

Today’s Story: IDDA

IDDA was established in 2016 as a partnership between the Gaja family of Piedmont and the Graci family of Sicily. While the Gaja family is rightfully famous for their Barbaresco and Barolo, Angelo Gaja became incredibly interested in the history, culture, and terroir of Sicily and particularly Mt. Etna with the Etna wines being produced in recent years. After Angelo met Alberto Graci, whose family makes wines on the northern slopes of Mt. Etna, the two joined together to purchase vineyards on the southern slopes. With about 52 acres of vineyards today located between 2,000 and 2,600 feet elevation on this great volcano, IDDA cultivates Carricante, Nerello Mascalese, and Nerello Cappuccio with the first vintage being 2017.

Today’s Wine: 2017 IDDA Etna Rosso

98% Nerello Mascalese, 2% Nerello Cappuccio; 14.5% ABV

The 2017 IDDA Etna Rosso is translucent deep garnet in color. Given some time to blossom in the glass, this wine opens to showcase a nose of strawberry, raspberry, bing cherry, leather, tomato paste, volcanic soil, bright mineral, and charred oak. There is some slight heat there too, which should become better integrated over time. On the palate, I get notes of tart cherry, stemmy strawberry, boysenberry, rose petal, anise, sweet tobacco, smoke, tilled rocky soil, ground green herbs, and basil. This is medium-bodied with high acidity, medium (+) tannins, and a long finish.

Price: $50. This is the inaugural vintage of this wine, and although young it is both approachable with air and immensely promising as this project comes into its own. I think this is priced very fairly given the apparent quality, and like similar Etna Rosso wines provides QPR that can be hard to find in the world.