This Week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous
Girolamo Russo
Feudo Etna Rosso Nerello Mascalese - Nerello Cappuccio 2017
The 2017 Etna Rosso Feudo launches up from the glass with an intense and rich display of crushed black cherries, balsamic-tinged brown spice and incense. Its textures are silky, even fleshy in feel, with a saturating mix of citrus-tinged, tart red and black fruits, all motivated by vibrant acidity. This boasts tremendous concentration yet carries it well, as a coating of fine tannin struggles to emerge, creating a push and pull of sweet and sour tension. There’s a lot of warm-vintage character packed into the 2017 Feudo, yet it maintains admirable balance. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Federico Curtaz
Gamma Etna Bianco Carricante 2018
Dusty yellow flowers, smoke, crushed stone, nectarine and hints of hazelnut lift up from the 2018 Etna Bianco Gamma, creating a deeply alluring display. It’s soft and textural, balancing ripe orchard fruits against hints of sour green citrus and salty mineral tones. Notes of young mango and peach linger, along with a subtle buzz of residual acidity, all under a pretty air of inner florals. This highly enjoyable Carricante is showing beautifully already, but it should also excel for a number of years in a cold cellar. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Bonavita
Faro Nerello Blend 2017
The 2017 Faro is spicy and perfumed, the violet and rose tones giving way to peppery herbs, earthy minerals and musky black cherry. Its fleshy and enveloping textures are well balanced by zesty acids, as waves of tart wild berries and sour citrus wash across the palate, leaving a tactile mix of minerals and grippy tannins in their wake. This tapers off lightly structured and with a pretty inner sweetness, resonating on a vivid note of salted black licorice. The 2017 could use a few more months to a year to come fully into focus. Bonavita’s Faro is a blend of Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio and Nocera that is refined for 24 months in a combination of 30-hectoliter oak barrels, cement and steel. In a word, spellbinding. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Le Casematte
Faro Nerello Mascalese Blend 2017
The 2017 Faro captivates the senses with a darkly alluring bouquet of ripe plums, rich brown spice and hints of cacao and tobacco. This is silky and pliant in feel, motivated by brisk acids, as a display of mineral-tinged black fruits and savory herbs fleshes out across the palate. A subtle coating of fine tannin frames the expression nicely as the 2017 finishes with persistence, resonating on inner earth notes and florals and a hint of blueberry skins and sour citrus. This is gorgeous today, yet it also possesses medium-term cellaring potential. Le Casematte Faro is a blend of 55% Nerello Mascalese, 25% Nerello Cappuccio, 10% Nocera and 10% Nero d’Avola. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Il Censo
Praruar Terre Siciliane Catarratto 2017
Good luck pulling your attention away from the 2017 Catarratto Praruar. All it takes is one tilt of the golden-amber-colored nectar in your glass, and its exotic bouquet of sugar-dusted ginger, dried nectarines, crushed green apple, geranium and mint creates a unique yet captivating display. This is powerful and deeply textural, with a pretty inner sweetness balanced by brisk acids and tart orchard fruits, complemented by savory brown spice and a mind-bending addition of cocoa toward the close. For all of its density, the Praruar turns squeaky-clean through the finale, yet still full of lively energy, resonating on floral-tinged peaches and pears. Frankly, this is probably the most interesting interpretation of Catarratto that I’ve ever experienced; but be aware that it is unabashedly an orange-style wine, which won’t appeal to all palates. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Calabretta
Vigne Vecchie Sicilia Nerello Mascalese 2010
Masses of crushed black cherries laced with Christmas spice, lavender and dusty cedar waft up from the 2010 Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie. It’s fleshy and round upon entry, offering ripe cherries, plums and burnt citrus that saturate the palate. Brisk acids work hard to add vibrancy and lift, in spite of the staining of concentrated primary fruit that lingers throughout the finish. The result is one of gravelly tension yet also satisfaction, like biting into a fresh yet tart raspberry. The 2010 Vigne Vecchie is the current release for this bottling, which spends six or seven years refining in 50- to 70-hectoliter Slavonian oak botti prior to bottling. It’s an experience wine, to say the least. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Tenuta delle Terre Nere
Cuvée della Vigne Niche Calderara Sottana Etna Bianco Carricante 2019
There’s an airy and inviting freshness to the 2019 Etna Bianco Calderara Sottana that pulls you close to the glass, as a nuanced display of dusty dried flowers, cardamom, crushed stone and honeyed orchard fruits comes forward over time. It’s silky and seductive on the palate, showing a pretty inner sweetness, with ripe pear giving way to notes of almond as inner florals amass toward the close. Minerals and hints of citrus sizzle throughout the long finale under an enriching air of custard. As beautiful as this is today, it will only get better over time. Simply stunning. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Pietradolce
Contrada Rampante Etna Rosso 2017
Darkly elegant and poised, the 2017 Etna Rosso Contrada Rampante slowly comes to life. Exotic spice scents emerge, mixed with smoky crushed stone, dried roses and black cherries. It’s silky-smooth with medium-bodied weight, complemented by bright acidity and a cooling mix of red and blue fruits. Sweet tannins and minerals mingle through the long, mouthwatering finale, leaving a lightly structured feel as inner violet florals slowly fade. This is incredibly pretty and already highly enjoyable, yet has short-term cellaring potential as well. Nicely done! (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Frank Cornelissen
Munjebel (Classico) Rosso Nerello Mascalese 2019
The 2019 Nerello Mascalese Munjebel seduces with a rich and sweetly scented bouquet of crushed black cherries, dried roses and cloves. It’s silky in texture, enveloping all that it touches with ripe red fruits and spices, nicely framed by saturating minerality, as inner violet florals form toward the close. There are tannins here, but they don’t get in the way; instead, they create a perfectly dry platform where notes of lavender, plum and allspice hover above. The Munjebel is a blend of fruit from Frank Cornelissen’s vineyards across the northern valley of Etna. It aims to please, and it will excel at doing so through short-term cellaring. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago
Delectable Wine
Follow to learn about our favorite wines & people.
A captivating display of blackberry, plum, grilled herbs, cedar dust and balsamic spice wafts up from the 2016 Mille e una Notte. It’s silky in texture and polished in feel, offering ripe black fruits lifted by cooling minerality. This remains tightly wound up in its youthful state, as a fine coating of sweet tannin settles in to create a structured finale, with pretty purple-tinged florals and hints of licorice lingering long. The 2016 may be one of the most refined expressions of Mille e Una Notte that I’ve ever tasted, but it will need some time to show its best. This is composed primarily of Nero D'Avola, Petit Verdot and Syrah, which is expertly refined in new barriques for 14 months. (Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2021)
— 3 years ago