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Los Bermejos Maceration Carbonica from Lanzarote, Canary Islands 🍷Great juicy summer red #postshiftjam#strawberrydippedinvolcano#bubblicious#bermejos#canaryislands#listannegro#carbonicmaceration#lanzarote#losbermejos#adulting#fakeinstrument#fakeituntilyoumakeit#rockband#corkdork#somm#winelover#volcanicwine#summerwine#winetime
Lemon cream on the nose, a hint of celery--pleasant, though. Biscuits quickly shift to green pepper and a trace of flint. Backend is more lemon and a trace of butter. This is an excellent white, will suited for good and pleasant companionship. #volcanic #volcanicwine #volcanicwines #italy #italianwine #italianwinelover #italy🇮🇹 #wine #winelover #whitewine @graci_etna #etnabianco @dcanterwines (at Navy Yard) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKpZEhABOqd/?igshid=c1rx9raqhskp
Drinking with a view . @maeliwine #rossoinfinito #volcanicwine #EuganeanHills #winetasting #winelover #winestories #winetraveler (at Prague, Czech Republic) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_ZqR7ilvBA/?igshid=1u3k9yqizu2qf
Winemaker Elisa Dilavanzo walks us through the new releases of @maeliwine at the @johnszaboms led 2nd annual #volcanicwine conference in NYC. . . #moscatogiallo #petnat #collieuganei #veneto #italy #azoreswines organic #natural #wine 🇮🇹 #volcanicwines #volcanicwinesinternational (at Stewart Hotel NYC) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByWBmclhGt4/?igshid=l254ctlip8mb
New entry:#cortecanella #soave 2018. #soavewine #soavelife #soave #volcanicwine #volcanicwines #bareta87 #travel #travelblogger #traveltips #explore #discovering #blogger #reisen #voyage #travelling #travelporn #travelholic #viaggiatori #viaggiare #turismo #turisti #vacanze #città #campagna #estveronese #visitveneto #visititaly #italy #hotelbareta #baretacommunity #baretablog https://www.instagram.com/baretacommunity/p/BxOxhlbn3yN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1tjrc3pvto66j
Bellissimo - the wine & the label 😍 Volcanic vino fans will LOVE this 3-GamberoRosso Etna gem (baby bro to Sicily’s only 100-pointer, Barbagalli) 🍷 Swirl it, sniff it, savour it!!! #volcanicwine #etnawine #nerellomascalese @pietradolce GET A BOTTLE TODAY: https://baccowines.com/etna-rosso-archineri-2010-doc-pietradolce-75cl.html (at BACCO WINES Boutique Italian Wine in Singapore) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo_wvtRnpOP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1v0ca1upbfym3
Etna Bianco 2016 Ayunta
For those of you kindly keeping up with my weekly postings, I was recently ranting about the beauty of Etna and its ability to withstand against any classically-defined wine regions.
Although, Mount Etna had long been shaped by viticulture for centuries, it was not until the late 1990′s that investments or simply the Wine World figured out just how much potential Etna had.
Running Northeast to Southeast around the volcano, most of the area under vines are planted to Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Capuccio, creating the Etna Rosso blend, while Carricante and Catarratto makes for the blend created under the Etna Bianco DOC (although a small tiny amount of other indigenous grape varieties can also be found).
While most of the volcanic soils are phylloxera-free with vines approaching +200 years old, substantial differences were also found based on the site vines were grown in as microclimate drastically changes from one side to the other.
Indeed, the term ‘contrada’ was first struck in 2005 based on that belief, as producers felt the need to show and highlight how key sites were, as it is the case in Burgundy, France (Premier cru, Grand cru system).
In other words, not only is Nerello Mascalese (as is Pinot Noir) extremely sensitive to site exposure but ripening conditions can prove difficult when the right conditions are overlooked (elevation, sun exposure, slope incline).
Back to this review, earlier this week, I happened to be lucky enough to experience what the region really has to offer in a liquid form.
Filippo Mangione, Ayunta’s founder, has had wine part of his life and his family’s for a little while.
Growing up in Southern Sicily, Filippo watched his father tend vines since a very early age until witnessing his passing, which led to all of his family’s holdings being sold off eventually.
Following up was Filippo finding his way into the wine industry all the way to a sommelier position inspiring him to make a trip back to his roots down in Etna and take over what were, soon-to-be, abandoned parcels.
Fast forward to 2011, Filippo kickstarted AYUNTA with holdings from very old vines, primarily located on the Northern side of the volcano and today averaging 3 hectares.
Another noteworthy fact is, as these are also sitting on fairly high altitude in a cooler area, around 600-700m, harvest can be overdue and take place until the end of October for red varieties.
Filippo made it also very clear from the very beginning that very few interventions would be made in or outdoors and no chemicals would be in use in the vineyards over a yearly, very close watch on the vines instead.
ETNA BIANCO ‘Piante/Sparse’, proudly displayed on the bottle here stands for ‘stray vines’ in Italian, as white varieties are blended in and scattered among red varieties. As a result, maturity can be tricky to keep in check and Filippo, in some years, prefer to not even release any whites on the market.
The wine, when poured, comes off a touch cloudy (not surprising as no filtration or fining is done) and extremely vibrant taking on bright gold hues and, if this can be a wine descriptor, glitters.
I found the nose to be living up to its color, again starting off extremely bold.
Most interesting of nose here. Changing as the glass was swirled around some more, making me feel like I was opening a spice cabinet… vanilla beans, cardamom and pistacchio, taking me to a seafood platter with some briny notes and wet rocks finishing off on some yellow apple flesh undertones. Never-ending.
Overall, I felt the wine dancing, tickling and evolving just under an hour (or enough time for three individuals to get to the end of the bottle). Great acidity throughout providing backbone and added roundness to the wine.
In all honesty, Craftsmanship can truly be tasted in here.
Whether this is in any ways related to the non-interventionist practises, I cannot confirm but this is nonetheless, in every way, very well-handled and again, is a reminder that Mount Etna has a bright future ahead.
Thanks for reading!
AA
Wines of Etna, Sicily - Overview
Among the few outstanding classic wine regions of the World, I’m still struggling to see full credits given to some over other overpriced and famous areas, which is to me extremely sad.
What does, you ask, a classic wine region fit into?
Well, I tend to mostly think of European regions as such with some historical relevance, winemaking legacy tied to the area or in another words, carrying some identity. So again, quite the blurry definition.
Nowadays, to most wine drinkers, Piedmont in Italy (Barolo, Barbaresco), Burgundy in France or Rioja in Spain, would most certainly be considered as such.
But what about other up-and-coming areas that have yet to get the proper recognition they deserve?
Yes, Etna, I’m talking about you.
Mount Etna in Sicily, remote archipelago just a boat trip away from mainland Italy, has sadly stolen the spotlight for erupting numerous times over the past decades and wiping out all traces of past civilization behind… Over its wine.
Although Sicily as an island was made famous in the 19th century for wine such as Marsala (West side of the island) or Passito di Pantelleria, a sudden drop in marketshare, interests around the WW2-era took place as fortified wine was falling out of fashion and wine such as Barolo, Amarone took over.
Fast forward to the 1980’s, although other under-the-radar areas saw investments coming in such as Angelo GAJA in Tuscany, looking for a cheaper alternative to estate expansions but somehow, most of Sicily remained unnoticed…Until the late 1990’s.
Vineyards, since the 1880’s, had been part of Mount Etna’s landscape but it was not until the late part of the 20th century that Mount Etna, as a wine region, had the chance to shine.
As well-established, powerful investors with a winemaking background moved down to Etna and purchased vineyards (F. Cornelissen from Belgium or M. de Grazia from Tuscany) while regional government started to funnel funds towards preserving Etna’s terroir in replanting its vines, suddenly interests grew.
But let’s focus on volcano talk.
Mount Etna is fascinating.
Today’s highest mountain in Italy South of the Alps, the volcano benefits from an extremely diverse terroir and very few grape varieties, only showing their true potential on highly-elevated vineyards.
Indeed, All of its area under vine curves around the volcano and cools down a bit up North, warming up as one makes its way down South.
With some of its highest vineyards up at over 1200m, day and night temperature gap become greater and the wines salty, crisper and almost crystalline…
Over time, as Mount Etna unleashed and left villages destroyed, it also spread lava, volcanic ashes and sand along the way, slowly covering all of its surrounding area and making it extremely fertile for winegrowing.
Indeed, as all other European regions had their vineyards wiped out to phylloxera along with Sicily in the 1950’s, Mount Etna was blessed with disease-free soils. Sandy-based volcanic soils indeed have properties keeping the bug away, which means that some of the highest-located vines today remained alive from back in the day and are approaching, for some, 200 years old.
By some, the area is also sometimes looked at as Burgundy as location for growing grapes around the volcano is key and all of historically-grown grape varieties have remained the same over centuries.
Today, mainly two styles of wine can be found on Mount Etna.
--> Etna Rosso DOC: Made of a blend of Nerello Mascalese (80-95%) and Nerello Cappuccio (5-20%), this has come to be the ‘classic’ flagship style of wine for reds.
N. Mascalese brings the power and grittiness while N. Cappuccio color and softer aromas.
Extremely compelling bottlings can be found today (some of them on ungrafted vines) delivering on the power, juiciness but mostly finesse and subtlety of the blend:
TENUTA DELLE TERRE NERRE - Prephylloxera
BENANTI
FRANK CORNELISSEN
AYUNTA
GIROLAMO RUSSO
--> Etna Bianco DOC: Focused here on the Carricante (60-100%) and Catarratto (0-40%) blend, both extremely old varieties.
Wines, in this case, stand out for their light citrus peel aromas, quietness, saltiness and high acidity (depending on winemaker style and location for site).
Carricante comes in here as the main grape for flavor compounds and high acidity, while Catarratto rounds it out and brings balance to the blend:
BENANTI - Pietra Marina
PIETRADOLCE
AYUNTA
TENUTA DELLE TERRE NERRE
PLANETA
As a side note, Etna Rosato and Etna Spumante (mostly made of Nerello Mascalese) can also be found today but very little is produced every year, as producers tend to put an emphasis on Etna Bianco/Rosso.
If you haven’t been sold on the region yet, I please beg you to book a tour around the vineyards and the area as what better vacation than wandering around an active volcano followed by wine tastings?
I would maybe just pull away from being anywhere the volcano on eruption day.
As I mentioned before, the area is very much on the rise as expansion is underway, winemakers fine-tune their style and wines make their marks on the market, so patience is key here.
Thanks for reading!!
