2007 Calabretta Nerello Mascalese Sicilia Vigne Vecchie

Community Tasting Notes (33) Avg Score: 90.8 points

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  9/10/2023 - PaulusLoZebra Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Mini-vertical of Calabretta, with an ’07 Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie and Etna Rossos from ’03 and ’01. All three were delicious, savory wines in the same rustic Calabretta style, with very complex aromatics and flavors, good structure, good acid, but also plenty of mid-palate sweetness, integrated tannin, and a long finish, great QPR, and still many years ahead of them. All showed a mix of red and black fruits, especially sweet dark fruits, as well as mushrooms, tar, leather, smoke, and the typical Nerello Mascalese raw steak. All three showed some similarity to mature Nebbiolo and mature Pinot Noir.
  
  The 2007 NMVV was decanted two hours ahead of dinner, and was the biggest of the three wines, with a bit more barnyard and exotic spices than the others, plus a medicinal note and a finish featuring plum, bitter cherry and black cherry. Drink to 2035+. 93.
  
  The 2003 ER was also decanted two hours ahead of dinner, and featured more rosemary and minerals than the others, plus sweet cranberry, and a gentle liqueur aftertaste. Drink to 2030+. 94.
  
  The 2001 ER was decanted and served immediately and took about 30 minutes to open. It was the most balanced and silky of the three, and the least rustic, and featured bittersweet cherry, cherry liqueur, and dried herbs, and a very long, satisfying mineral and beetroot finish. Drink to 2027+. 95.

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  9/13/2021 - Cote d'Or wrote:

  Tasted over 2 hrs
  -nearly opaque very dark red black
  -muted tar licorice
  -med acidity, med/med+ weight rather dense dark fruit plum earth licorice tar, med tannins and moderate heat on the finish
  -rather big, could mistake this for a mourvedre-dominant CdP

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  4/18/2021 - Bakerbd Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Black cherry, tar, violets, high acid, slightly rustic but great wine

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  3/19/2021 - PaulusLoZebra Likes this wine: 93 Points

  My third bottle of the 2007 Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie from Calabretta, and the first in a year, it (L MS1) is in almost exactly the same (perfect) place in its evolution as last year. Like almost all vintages of Calabretta’s NMVV, it is not a pop & pour wine; this needed 90 minutes after decanting for the initial funk to fade and for its myriad aromas to emerge. Identical tasting notes as from one year ago. It has the classic Calabretta aromas, structure and flavors showcasing the rustic and complex side of Etna. The big aromatic and flavor profile features barnyard, sweet dark fruits, exotic spices, leather, smoke and steak tartar, plus a medicinal note. It has a very good structure provided by the sappy acidity and firm tannins, and a long, mineral finish with lovely residual sweetness of plum, bitter cherry and black cherry. Once again, I did not notice the 15% alcohol level, it is perfectly integrated when served at cool room temperature, about 65 F / 18 C. Great QPR, as always. Drink to 2027 + ?

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  1/13/2021 - Cote d'Or wrote:

  Tasted over 2 hrs
  -nearly semi-translucent dark red no bricking
  -mature elements volcanic cherry tar
  -med/med+ acidity accentuates some heat on the backend, med weight volcanic earthy tar cherry, med+ tannins
  -quite intensely structured and lacking charm, maybe more time will mellow it but the heat may very well become more prominent

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