Mamertino DOC (minimum of 60% Nero d’Avola) on the East tip of the island of Sicily. The real interesting variety is Nice to, which requires IGT status if bottled as primary or sole grape in a bottling.
Planeta
Tenuta Gatti
Ruggero Vasari
Sourced from Walter Speller’s “Mamertino: Nocera’s Role in an Ancient Sicilian Wine”, Wine & Spirits August, 2015
Try them all. Wonderful stuff. The Porcaria is amazing. The normale is terrific as well and even at ~$33 very good QPR.
Pietradolce is a fantastic producer but may be difficult to source. Based upon your post, it sounds like the Archineri bottling would suit you.
Thanks everyone for all the feedback. For basically what a bottle of the Passopisciaro Cesanese e Petit Verdot Franchetti would have cost me at Del Posto on Thursday I just ordered a couple of Passopisciaro Passopisciaros, a couple of Occhipinti SP68, a Passopisciaro Porcaria, a Occhipinti Frappato, a Passopisciaro Franchetti (and a bottle of Billecart Salmon Blanc des Blancs because it is hard to find in MA). Really looking forward to trying these wines and I thank you all for the input and advice!
-KB
PS - Pietradolce did prove difficult. Wally’s (where I ordered from) did not have it.
PPS - Thank you for the Tami Frappato recommendation. This one I have been able to find locally and it has made its way into my daily rotation (as has the 2014 Tenuta Etna Rosso)
Agree with everyone here on the Nerello Mascalese varietal. I’m not a big fan of Nero d’Avola, especially from Planeta, which is like Santa Margherita of pinot grigio.
I like all of the Terre Nere offerings, especially the pre-phylloxera vines. Also not mentioned here are the offerings from Calabretta, which are more rustic (and bottle variant), but can be awesome when “on”.
Opened a 2011 Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Prephylloxera last night (my husband cooked pizza (this never happens) so break out a nice bottle. Probably should have researched this before opening but there was no there there if you know what I mean. A lack of structure. Maybe it is too young?
Drew,
I think spellcheck ate your first ‘Nocera’ mention here.
I love the variety too.
that’s a shame about the 2011 prephylloxera. In truth the last one I had was the 2006, which has a lot of muscle.
The 2006 was the first one ever released, right? I also have a 2011 Calderara Sottana from the same producer. We shall see . . .
Kara, I wonder if the wine was shut down? To be honest, wine making on Etna has taken a big qualitative step forward in the last 10-15 years, and while these wines show every sign that they will be able to handle extended aging, at this point we don’t have 30 year old examples to cite like we do in Piemonte and Tuscany.
Assuming you didn’t finish the bottle last night, stick it back in the cellar for a couple days and see if the wine ends up pulling itself together.
FWIW, I just checked Ian D’Agata’s vintage recap, and he believes that 2011 on Etna was a good year, but also one where the wines will require extended aging to smooth out their tannins and come around. As you said, maybe the wine was just too young?
Hey folks. Thanks to all the good advice here I tried a Occhipinti ‘SP68’ Rosso 2014 today at lunch (Babbo in Boston). Loved it! I have an internet order in that includes this wine that has not yet arrived so it was a treat to find it on the wine list ($60 - not crazy markup) and it was so wonderfully food friendly. What do you guys think of the Occhipinti Il Frappato? I have one on order as well and it was on the list for $80. Worth the price difference?
On a different note - did you see the “Wine School” piece in the NY Times on Etna Rosso? http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/09/dining/wine-schooo-etna-rosso.html?hpw&rref=food&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
Thanks again for all the insight. It definitely helps with the appreciation of the wines.
Best,
I love most of the Etna producers mentioned above, though I’m not a huge fan of Terre Nerre’s stuff (it’s good, not great, to me, and I really disliked their Caricante).
As a disclaimer, I should mention we have started importing a practicing Organic producer from the northwest slope of the volcano, Al-Cantara. We’re bringing in their Nerello Capuccio and their Nerello Mascalese, and I am happy to report the wines are now in MA thanks to our wholesaler there.
Which wholesaler?
Wine Library is selling the 2013 Occhipinti Frappato for $32 with special code via their wine deals promotion vehicle on Instagram. You won’t beat that price. I picked up a few.
Hangtime Wines. They have the both Nerellos, and just picked up more Mascalese.
Already great suggestions here. Some of my favorites:
Benanti, Pietramarina for white and Rovitello(preferred) or Serra della Contessa for red
Salvo Foti (the man on Etna, winemaker for just about everyone at some point) all of his wines. white or red
Terre Nerre have never been my favorite, however, they are great wines. Whites and reds. I will say their Rosé is the best possibly from Italy.
Girolamo Russo, especially if you like Beaujolais. The San Lorenzo if you like the smokey/peaty side of Etna.
Palari makes great Sicilian wines from Messina. A bit more earthy, but still light in style. The Faro is great, but the Rosso del soprano is a fantastic everyday wine.
From Vittoria,
Of course Occhipinti is great, the frappato is a great wine. Her Grotte Alte Cerasuolo di Vittoria is by far my favorite wine of the area. A blend of Frappato and Nero d’avola.
The Cos wines are very good, specifically the Pithos, which is anfora aged. Their Nero d’Avola wines are also broad and black fruited without being jammy or overripe.
Moving fully westward into Marsala. Marco de Bartoli’s Grappoli del Grillo could be the best white wine made in Sicily, let alone souther Italy as a whole. Really great, drinks like burgundy/ 1er cru chablis in style. But with a sicilian uniquness.
Here is a question about Grillo…do they age? I have been seeing a few around town of late.
Depends. The more serious examples, like Feudo Montoni’s Vigna della Timpa or Baglio del Cristo di Campobello’s Laluci, I would say 5-6 years, no problem. There is, though, also quite a lot of Grillo around specifically made for very short-term drinking.
Well, I haven’t really drank much for Grillo and don’t remember drinking, nor attempted to drink, any during a full week’s visit in Sicily in early December. I did have and enjoyed other indigenous white varietals more, including Carricante and Catarrato.
In any case, on the question of aging Grillo, isn’t Grillo used to make Marsala which has a long aging curve?