TN: Terre Nere - 2008 Feudo di Mezzo

I’ve been exploring Mt. Etna wines over the past six or eight months since a revelatory tasting last fall.

Tonight I opened a recently purchased 2008 Tenuta delle Terre Nere, Etna Rosso, Feudo di Mezzo, Il Quadro delle Rose (a name long enough to be German), which was a pleasure. Popped and poured, but savored over 90 minutes or so with dinner.

At first there was a little bit of oxidation – a sort of porty/pruny note. At first I thought this was at the end of its life because that ripe, pruny element carried over a bit to the mouth and the tannins seemed completely evolved. I figured I ought to drink up my other bottle – or that this one had somehow been oxidized.

But that blew off. The nose become more earthy and, with extended air in the glass, this freshened up. Instead of prunes, it took on a fresh plum note – the kind of plum that is dark and ripe on the outside but green, firm and a bit tart on the inside. The tannins turned firmer, too. Along with this was a wonderful earthy quality. Volcanic? Or is that just the power of suggestion, knowing the source and the soils?

This was a perfect match for paella with chorizo. Yum! (I finally managed to char the bottom of the paella. Yay!)

This is everything I love in the Etna wines – that reminder of nebbiolo and pinot, the taughtness (tannin and acidity), the piercing aromas of those high-acid grapes, yet with the unmistakeable mark of very warm days that yield ripe, roasted fruit notes.

I’m not a big fan of Marco di Grazia’s Barolo line-up, but he certainly has done a good job with this, his own property, at the other end of the country, in Sicily.

~92 points. The longer I sipped this, the more upside it seemed to have.

I don’t have the 2008, but I do have the 2007 Feudo di Mezzo as part of a recent 4+ case selection of Terre Nere. So far, I have tried the 2011 Etna Rosso and the 2009 Guardiola and am very impressed. They should improve considerably with some cellar time so I am drinking the 2002 Calabretta Etna Rosso which is wonderful now and in no danger of going over the edge. The Calabretta 2002 is still available in NYC.

I’m wanting to also learn more about Etna wines. I’ve long been a fan of Calabretta but haven’t explored others. I just picked up the 2011 Terre Nere Etna Rosso (for around ~$20), which I believe to be their entry bottling, but is supposed to be terrific (and a great QPR). How are Terre Nere’s other bottlings? And where in the line up is Feudo di Mezzo?

A 2008 recently purchased? Most stores are getting into the 2010’s already, but the nice thing about Etna wines is that older examples can be found, somewhere, in the retail chain (not including Calabretta, who always releases years beyond anyone else).

I think De Grazia should have begun in the South and moved his way up instead of the other way around. His Terre Nere wines are so different from his Piedmont selections, which I can’t stomach.

Hello all,

sadly the 2008 Feudo di Mezzo is no longer available within my reach, but I have some bottles of the Guardiola from that vintage. When I tried the whole line-up maybe 1 1/2 year ago, I thought that they were at least 3-4 years from being ready as there was some serious tannin lurking behind (much like Barolo, in fact even more than some modern ones). I then consumed Feudo di Mezzos from 2006, which were nicely approachable, highly complex and not declining.
So I was quite surprised, John, that your bottle seemed evolved right after opening. Maybe it was not representative? Nevertheless, I will try to check in one of mine.

Greetings
Eric