MAGMA by Frank Cornelissen/Sicily - fascinating wine

2007 Frank Cornelissen, Magma Rosso 6 VA, Sicily
Attention, no boring wine here! Fascinating wine which put a spell on me. 2007 Magma Rosso 6 VA is based on the grape Nerello Mascalese from pre-phyloxera vines and at 650-980 metres altitude in the North Valley of Mount Etna, Sicily.

The colour is granat and translucent burgundy like. Mystic spicy&earthy bouquet. On the palate a dense, ripe flavor profile of dried fruits, plum, raisin, sous-bois and some sweet port-like flavors. Of course at this young stage very vibrant tannis with a long finish.

No doubt a unique stilisitc which should be encountered with open-mindedness and curiousity. BTW, I also would like to recommend MUNJEBEL Rosso 5 (vintage2007&2008) which was a fine food-wine. Finally, be careful with transportation&storage, as the wine should not exceed 16 C , as the wine contains no sulphur.

“Our products are the result of this philosophy and our hands, with team. Wines which reflect ultimate territorial identity and mineral depth carry the name Magma®. These are single cru and vintage wines from various superb terroirs at 650-980 metres altitude in the North Valley of Mount Etna, Sicily. Magma® Rosso is fermented from our best Nerello Mascalese grapes; the golden Magma® Bianco is produced from ancient white varietals.
The surface area of our estate is 12 hectares, of which 8.5 are vines in the classic free standing alberello training system (aka Gobelet, or bush-vine). The remainder is olive, fruit and nut trees, and brush. In abandonning monoculture to avoid classic diseases we have interplanted various local fruit varieties and keep bees to regain a complex ecosystem. The new vineyard (2003-4) was planted without grafts, using the cuttings of our existing pre-phylloxera vines. The training system used is the alberello, at a lower density of vines per hectare than is traditional. This greatly improves ventilation, as well as facilitating cultivation of other plants and species inbetween the vines, such as buckwheat, rebalancing soils low on organic material without recourse to compost. We avoid soil-moving, and all treatments whatsoever in the vineyard, orchard and surroundings, in which we succeeded even in difficult vintages such as 2004 and 2005.
Our grape yields are low, around 300g per vine, realised by pruning very short in the dormant season. Every bunch is then tailored, with tails cut away, and unripe or damaged berries delicately picked out. We harvest quite late, from the end of October to mid November, effected in multiple passes, obtaining perfectly ripe and healthy grapes. We refuse to add any product in every aspect of our (non)winemaking and bottling, thus also avoiding the use of sulphur dioxide. The grapes are transformed in a delicate way, fermented and aged according to ancient traditions in terracotta giarre of 400 litres, buried up to the neck in the cellar in ground volcanic rock. Maceration periods are long, until after malolactic fermentation (up to 7 months and in a vintage like 2003, 14 months), in order not to disturb the complex natural processes of fermentation. The skins, seeds and nascent wine remain unseparated during the entire transformation, maintaining a cosmic link, and enabling extraction of all possible aromas of soil and territory. After basket-pressing maturation continues in terracotta until several full cosmic cycles have passed (e.g. 18 months) before the wine is ready for gentle, slow bottling.
Our products are made without the use of preservatives (i.e. no added sulphur) in order to be able to develop freely to their full potential. This requires transportation and storage below 16°C. When you open a bottle, we suggest not to decant. Rather, take the wine at cellar temperature (12-16°C), pour into Burgundy balloons, nose immediately, and follow its full aromatic progression as it expands, warms up. If a little frizzante upon opening, keep the bottle cool at 14-16°C, and allow to settle for circa 15 minutes. Our wines have only natural - no added - protection against colour degradation, so if left open a few hours, you will see the colour evolve from granite red to volcanic black ash!!! Don’t worry - the flavours become more complex with time, as the colour turns.” (Source: Frank Cornelissen)

Martin, any idea or feeling as to the alcohol level? Harvesting in November would seem to mean quite a bit of alcohol.

The thing I would add is that these wines can be cloudy. Mostly fine lees I think. For that reason I say that bottles will show best if stood up for a few weeks to settle the cloudiness. Then carefully opened and poured off the sediment. The flavors will be more focused and vivid that way. But as FC says, follow the evolution right away, but do take 2 or 3 hours to consume the bottle.

Hank, the MAGMA has 14,5% and yes the alcohol is noticable.

Martin,

I very recently appreciated the Frank Cornelissen Munjebel 2005 : very “nature” and no problem to finish the bottle in a long panel of italian wines.

Also enjoyed the Contadino 6 a few months ago. The wine just got better and better,

Great to see you here Hank!

Why any winemaker would condemn his wine to random and premature spoilage by not using sulfur is beyond me.

What about a producer spoiling his wines with too much oak (Drouhin, Prieur, …) ?

Depends if you think the taste of over-oaked wine is worse than the taste of wine that’s been turned into a playground for every microscopic organism under the sun (“tastes like rotting corpses” is one of the more charitable descriptions I’ve heard of such wine). Do a search for “Coturri” and see…

Laurent,

that is great to hear, especially as you´re such a professional&critical taster.

Take care,
Martin

Nick,

I understand your statement, of course !

Frank Cornelissen ‘Magma’ Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT Contrada Barbabecchi 2015 : 18/20
Voici un grand vin, floral (rose), fruité (fraise). Grand style aérien, élégante puissance (tannins chics), grande persistance. Pensé au raffinement d’un Barolo de Giuseppe Mascarello (Villero voire même Monprivato).

My cats greatly appreciate Frank’s wines. Immediately gets them hunting.

Cornelissen’s wines are not Always flawed …

2016 Magma was excellent, but many hours of air. Would like to see what it is like in another 5-10 years, but I am not sure I could justify the price tag. I also had the 2019 Munjebel VA while in Sicily in April. It was also excellent. Not sure it will be the best QPR, but it was potent and quite enjoyable.

I think his wines have gotten far more consistent in the last few vintages. unfortunately, as Joseph noted, the Contadino and MAGMA wines especially are hard to take chances on at their price points if you’re burned by inconsistency very often.

But they are always priced as if they are not.

Luckily, my first bottle (shared with Bryan Harrington) was a revelation and inspiration (from a geeky wine list at a reasonable price). No luck since, and the prices have skyrocketed. That bottle (Contadino 10) set a very high benchmark of what Nerello Mascalese can be.

Frank actually poured me through his wines at domaine LA a few years ago and they were good, but bottles I’ve purchased at retail have been very mixed.