Meaning New Lava Flow it's young soils have not broken down to release as much nutrient as the olds flows. Treating the vines mean and keeping them lean! Made from Nerello Mascelese, some call it the Barolo of the South, others a cross between Pinot & Nebbiolo. I prefer to say it is itself & delicious. The vineyards of Etna have undergone a major renaissance in the last couple of decades. Passipisciaro has been one of the wineries at the forefront. I was blown away the first time I taste
Guardiola higher elevation puts it on the more elegant side of the scales! Made from Nerello Mascelese, some call it the Barolo of the South, others a cross between Pinot & Nebbiolo. I prefer to say it is itself & delicious. The vineyards of Etna have undergone a major renaissance in the last couple of decades. Passipisciaro has been one of the wineries at the forefront. I was blown away the first time I tasted this wine.NOTE: The two reviews below were made almost 12 months apart. T
This entire Contrada, Bocca d’Orzo, was buried in the lava flow of 1981, bar this tiny ‘dagala’ or island of intact 70-year-old vines. Marco negotiated and purchased this tiny 0.75 hectare plot and produced his first vintage from it in 2019. Only 800 bottles are produced each year. The dagala sits at 800 metres with soils of deep volcanic ash and pebbles.This wine is intensely floral with hints not only of red flowers but violets and wild herbs, too. It is very structured, almost li
To taste wine from 140 year old vines that has not been influenced by growing on a rootstock is becoming a rare thing at a global level. Darkly alluring and youthfully backward, the 2022 Etna Rosso Prephylloxera La Vigna di Don Peppino Calderara Sottana smolders up with a blend of sweet spices, dusty violets and ash, giving way to dried black cherries, sage and cloves. This is velvety yet finessed, with a polished wave of ripe red and blue fruit that flows across a juicy stream of acidity. Hint
To taste wine from 140 year old vines that has not been influenced by growing on a rootstock is becoming a rare thing at a global level. The 2023 Etna Rosso Prephylloxera La Vigna di Don Peppino Calderara Sottana opens like a flower shop on the nose, intensely layered with depths of black cherry and spice. This is more lifted and graceful than expected, with a sour citrus tinge, tart wild berry fruits and mineral tones. Edgy tannins pinch at the cheeks as the 2023 resonates with blue and purp
