Community Tasting Note

• VTCellarDweller Likes this wine: 92 points

  March 8, 2014 - This was the first of 12 bottles purchased at retail mid 2013 and properly kept. It was decanted for 3 hours with half reserved to a 375ml and refrigerated. It was served with Gnocchi and a fresh Marinara sauce, meatballs, and oven baked eggplant slices with sauce and parmesan.
  On first pour, the color was an unusually bright medium garnet with only a hint of edge bricking. My aromatic and palate impressions were closely aligned with those of PaulusLoZebra so I will forego a repetitious recital of descriptors.
  After 2 days, the remaining half was uncorked and allowed to air in bottle for an hour before serving with a selection of cheeses. It had opened slightly, but not significantly, and there was a modest abatement of the initial tensions.
  While dominated now by powerful tannins and a stiff spine of acidity, there is an adolescent coyness that teases you with hints of a coiled power, elegance, and sophistication waiting to erupt with an Etna like display of rich, complex, exotic aromas and flavors in a few years.
  Although this can be charming now with a lengthy airing and food, I will wait on my next bottle for another 2 years. I can see this lasting another 7-10 years after that. But I prefer the character of older wines and am fortunate to have the storage conditions for a comfortable maturation, YMMV.
  Terre Nere, and a handful of the other top Etna producers, are creating extraordinary wines from Nerello Mascalese that need not stand in the shadow of anything from the Piedmont. 92 points now with a 2 point upside potential.

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