Community Tasting Note

bevetroppo Likes this wine:

Monday, January 15, 2018 - An attractive Etna Rosso DOC that takes a half hour to open up and show its stuff. I'm still looking for the clues I need to identify nerello mascalese blind, a task I regretfully find gets harder with age (mine, not the wine's!). Color is a much better indicator initially than anything else, because the wines tend towards a lighter, Burgundian pinot color. Then the nose smells nothing like pinot, so you're left looking for alternatives. Once it unfolds a bit, there are aromas of red fruits, and though it's probably flat out wrong, something I might describe as strawberry/pomegranate, backed by the assertive volcanic minerality that inflects most all Etna wines. Again, not Burgundian or nebbiolo-like. On the palate it's light to medium bodied, somewhat tart and earthy, and finishes with raspy but not heavy tannins. I would like a little more fruit and concentration, but for about $20 I'm happy for some typicity and I'm not really complaining. 90% mascalese, 10% capuccio, 35 yr. old vines, hand-harvested, and 13.5% (from the helpful back label). Enjoyed it much more than a critically acclaimed Passopisciaro Rosso I recently had, so I'm hoping that was an off bottle.

Edit after posting: figlio di puttano, che coglione! What moron posted this as nero d'avola? I'll appeal to the cellartracker gods and see if it can be changed for posterity.

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