Recent wines

2014 Aeris (Rhys) Carricante Etna Bianco Superiore 2014 First of three of these and only second time with this grape. Somewhat closed at first, melon and other yellow fruit with the midpalate slightly reminiscent of orange wine, as well as some lanolin. Pretty unctuous mouthfeel. Wasn’t as crazy about this as I thought I would be, but maybe my expectations were too high? (Lanolin reminded me of the Chidaine Montlouis Choiselle 2014, which at this point in time seems to me the better wine.)

2004 Calabretta Etna Rosso Nerello Mascallese This batch of ‘04’s have been variable, with at least one showing considerable brett. This one was a winner; tarry, still with considerable tannins, the cherry-ish fruit comes forward on the midpalate and extends through the nice long finish which brings in tobacco notes.

2008 Castelli Nebbiolo Stolpman Vineyard This and the previous wine were served for some grad students my partner had over and they reminded me of how enjoyable well-made, not very expensive wines can be. That said, this did not have a huge amount of Nebbiolo character; blueberry was the most significant fruit, and also did not show a hell of a lot of tannin. Still very pure, and interesting in its own way; I’d have no problem drinking more.

1983 Chateau Figeac: compressed violets, plum, smoke, a little spice, still a little tannin; opens with air, fruit comes further forward. This drank younger than I expected and I enjoyed it a great deal. It brought that backbone that gives good Bordeaux a certain majesty.

2000 Chateau Yon-Figeac This particular vintage of this wine, according to Jancis and others, is supposedly the bomb. (She gave it an 18 out of 20!) Others at the table liked it more than me; it was relatively fruit forward, had some complexity, but after the Figeac a clear drop in level, finish was rather short and in the end just a little flat. Other bottles I have had showed better on their own.

Useful notes, thanks.
Carricante is relatively new to me so I am exploring the entry level bottles before raising the ante. So far one from Valenti called Enrice IV has been the winner.
‘Any suggestions for us bottom feeders?
Best, Jim

Thanks, Jim,

Much appreciated, especially since I fear I “borrowed” your usual subject heading. As I mentioned above, I’ve only had one other carricante, and I think it had storage issues so I wasn’t able to judge its quality. Maybe some of the Italian specialists–Ian Sutton, Gary York, Oliver Crum–know more? Aeris/Rhys definitely pricey!

I love Carricante wines. The whites from I Vigneri (Vigna di Milo) and I Custodi (Ante) - not 100% caricante though are very good. Tornatore’s whites are just as delicious as their reds. Old Benanti Pietramarina is a special wine.

I can see finding lanolin in carricante-based wines, as there is a heaviness of body that is allied with their bracing acidity.

I went the other direction with the Aeris…I have been a fan of the grape and found the Aeris better than anticipated. I like the heavier weight on the palate, especially with fish preparations like lemon, oil, and fennel. And I adore the dry, saline quality that I find prominent in the Aeris. Will be better prepared next time…will buy more.

the entry level from Terre Nere is quite good, usually it’s 65% Carricante … [cheers.gif]

Jim, Kermit Lynch is handling a new producer, Vigneti-Vecchio, which a makes a good one: Vigneti Vecchio | Our Wines | Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant. It sees some skin contact, so it has some color. Also, along the lines of what Marcus suggests, it has some flesh/body, but bracing acidy, keeping it taut and fresh. $30ish.

Salvo Foti is a master of the grape and Etna region.

As I understand it, he was responsible for the Pietrmarina until a few years ago, is Kevin Harvey’s current partner in Aeris using the grapes that previously went into the Pietramarina.

He continues to release several bottlings under his own label and the Aurora is priced around half of where the Aeris comes in. It is lovely.

Then there was George Chadwick’s tasting…In which we blind taste Carricante among other enterprises - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

Jim there’s Biondi and Benanti, usually around $20 or so. Planeta has a few, but they’re a bit more.

Nicosia has low-end stuff all over the place. I’ve even picked some up for $4.99 a bottle on clearance. They’re one of the older wineries on the island, having been established in the late 1800s, but they do a pretty good job and turned out another wine I bought to cook with but ended up drinking. Cottanera is another big producer that puts out pretty drinkable wines at really low-end prices.

And those two producers are only large by the standards of Etna - I don’t remember which is the larger but I think the larger one had a vineyard on Etna that was only like 50 hectares or something along those lines.

The Bianco Superiore is a little more than the basic bianco, but not always worth the extra, as sometimes that’s just for oak.

A lot of the wines, in fact probably most, are blended with a bit of Catarratto, but they have to be at least 60% Carricante.

The redoubtable Tom Hill recently posted on some of these too, including the 14 Aeris. Here:

Graci is my favorite producer in etna; their Arcuria blanco is wonderful.

The Planeta Eruzione 1614 isn’t quite entry level on price (+/-30) but is high quality imo.