in the past week I’ve had two beautiful Etna Rossi (TNs below), and I want to ask the wine-mind for more suggestions from this place with similar style. These wines just nail it on the type of wine I love: light on its feet, strong acid backbones, bright red fruit notes, solid structure. Anyone have any other good Etna/Nerello producers that they suggest? I really wanna try more of these!
Frank Cornelisson Susucaru Rosso 2017
The CT notes on this are surprising and kind of all over the place but I love it. Easy to drink, bright, and fresh. Bursting with juicy red strawberries and cherries. The more simple of the two listed here for sure, but still very tasty. This used to be the “Contadino.” Great at cellar temp or just slightly below, a really good food wine: pairs pretty well with everything from acidic salad dressings to lighter tomato sauces. Plenty of tannin to last, better with some air. (91pts)
Salvo Foti Vinupetra 2015
This wine is beautiful. All the way through from color, to aroma, to taste is enjoyable. I was a little surprised after reading notes on some of these that call it big and dark, because that was not my experience at all. In my glass this wine was a bright, partly see through ruby that was loaded with sour red cherries and a granite like mineral quality. This wine is like a good Nebbiolo, where the appearance disguises the structure and flavor bomb you get when it hits you. I am so curious to see how this does with a little age on it. (93-94pts… could be higher a few years down the road)
The bottle variation on Cornellissen’s wines is such that it’s no surprise that CT notes are all over the place.
I personally own more Passopisciaro than any other producer, but wouldn’t say they are necessarily similar in style. If they were easier to track down, I would own a lot of Benanti, and I believe that Foti does some consulting with them, although to what degree I can’t say.
from what I can gather, it seems like Foti is all over that mountain. I ran across some wines labeled “i Custodi” and when looking at shops near my hotel for an upcoming trip and I can’t seem to find out if this is actually still a i Vigneri label or not… but seems like he’s done a lot of consulting.
as for cornellissen, I originally read rave reviews about the Susucaru Rose, but have never actually enjoyed it very much. the rossi that I have had from him (2-3 bottles) have all been really enjoyable though. the rose just has too much of a natural note to it.
Obviously Terre Nere for lighter style. The contratas age well. I’ve had a couple with 10+ years. Passopisciaro wines are nice as well, including all the contratas, which are all very different. The Passopisciaro bianco is a bit unusual because its 100% Chardonnay. Some smaller wineries I like are: Vino di Anna (Anna Maartins), and Davide Bentivegna,
I recently tried the Moganazzi rosso from Vigne di Eli, the newish venture of Marco de Grazia, owner/founder of Terre Nere. It was pretty tight and underfruited when first opened (as nerello mascalese can be), but a half bottle of leftovers I stashed in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks showed very nicely last night.
Another plug here for the etna wines from Alice Bonaccorsi. The etna Bianco and Rosso are both really solid, but we just had her 2007 Crucimonaci a couple weeks ago and it was gorgeous all around.
ALso like the Benanti and find their entry level etna Rosso and Bianco to be the best bang for the buck in the category.
There’ve been some great suggestions so far. I would also fully add in Terre Nere and Graci for making great wines from etna and focusing on Nerello Mascalese
Nice notes Matt and I agree with your notes, especially the 15 Foti Vinupetra, a lovely wine. In regards to Cornelissen yes he pushes the boundaries sometimes but that is what I love. You want to throw it straight down the middle and taste good, that’s fine but most great wines (and many great products) is usually “on the edges”. That is Cornelissen.
Other Etna wines consumed and enjoyed recently were:
2017 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco
2013 Benanti Pietra Marina Etna Bianco Superiore (great producer and bottle!)
2007 Massimiliano Calabretta Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie (This is the current release!)
2013 Giovi “Akraton” Etna Rosso
2015 Cornelissen Munjebel CS (power and balance)
You really have to love the attitudes of the winemakers there. When Salvo Foti was asked if he was concerned about the relative high percentage of unknown grape varietals in his wine and the DOC he remarked “Sicilians always expect something illegal. So we don’t worry”.
Had the '17 Passopisciaro bianco in Montlacino last week on a hot night and it was most excellent. Also got turned on to Girolamo Russo’s Etna Bianco Nerina (Carricante and bunch of other native grapes) by a somm in Rome while we there. A smacking good wine, clean and bone dry with racy acidity. A nice intro to the producer for me. However, around $40 state-side is unfortunately more than it cost off a list in Rome.
I forget to mention Terre Nere! I have only ever had the basic Etna Rosso but I really liked it as well. Im curious from both of you, have you had the other bottlings (Sottana, PrePhyloxera, etc) and are they worth the price jump?
I’m actually not against a vote for Occhippinti. I know I specifically said Etna but Ive been eyeing these as well. style-wise, would you say they are still in that bright red fruit type category? because they’re NOT from Etna, Ive always worried her wines are gonna be bigger than I want from Sicily, always assumed Etna was so nice due to elevation over a very hot island.
I would say if delicate light and bright red fruit is what you are looking for, you need to try her frappato. It’s why I mentioned Occhippinti when I saw the style you were looking for.
That’s a good start with two cool somewhat “natty” producers. A producer that flies somewhat under the radar, but is available here in NC and should be in SC is Girolamo Russo. He makes a carricante based white as well as a rosato and three reds, one basic and two single vineyard. The wines are subtle, yet powerful and really interesting.
So much yes for Calabretta. I’ve also been lucky to have some older bottlings and they easily held up at 12+ years.
Matt,
I haven’t had Terre Nere’s Pre-Phylloxera, but I’ve had a good range of their higher end wines and they are a real step up from the Etna Rosso. They can be really expressive and show the capabilities of Nerello imo
