sicily

SOMETHING NEW FROM AN OLD SICILIAN FRIEND

The wines of Calabretta have been a part of our program for a long time. There are a couple of good reasons. One is because the wines are quite good and well represent their Mount Etna origins. But his program also offers a unique perspective in that he holds the wine back until he thinks they are ready to drink. Hence this Calabretta Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie 2014 is the current release.

If you aren’t familiar with Etna, or Calabretto, here’s a brief history. Calabretta’s vineyards are located nearly a half mile above sea level in the black volcanic soils of Etna’s north slope, between Randazzo and Castiglione di Sicilia. There, Calabretta farms roughly seven hectares of mostly 70- to 80-year-old vines—many of them ungrafted—on stepped terraces supported by stone walls.

Since the winery’s founding in 1900, the Calabretta family has farmed and produced wines from Etna’s ancient indigenous varieties—including Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio—in the mountain’s unique noble vineyards layered with a patchwork volcanic soils from various eruptions over the eons. Because of the distinct changes in soils across Etna’s slopes, comparisons are often made to Burgundy.

In fact, Calabretta’s most distinguishing feature is its dedication to long aging, which has stayed the same throughout the family’s history as winegrowers. The Etna Rosso ages much like Barolo and Brunello were aged decades ago, in massive (50- 70-hectoliter) neutral Slavonian oak botti for 6 to 7 years. The vineyard practices sound modern but are in fact rooted in the past. They avoid using chemical pesticides or herbicides, and they harvest by hand, starting around the second week of October. Fermentations are carried out exclusively with wild yeasts.

Here you have a unique combination of this distinctive soils of Etna presented when they are ready to consume, giving you the most complete experience with the genre. The Calabretta Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie 2014 is definitely a stylistic nod to the past and Nerello, with its surprisingly elegant red fruits infused with the minerality and earth notes that are the essence of these ancient volcanic soils as well as spice and floral notes. The wine is full flavored but never heavy, and makes for a compelling accompaniment to hearty Italian fare, grilled meats, or roasted fowl. It’s also important to know that while 2014 wasn’t particularly notable in the northern wine regions (though there were some fans of the Barbarescos), it was an exceptional vintage in Sicily.

A UNIQUELY COMPELLING ORANGE WINE

We’ll be the first to admit that we aren’t always ‘hip’ to certain wine trends. Our focus is on wines that are appealing in some manner, and we have a pretty wide ‘band’ in that respect. There aren’t many categories where we can’t find something compelling. But there are a couple of places where we have a little trouble understanding why the category gained popularity in the first place. We have written a lot about ‘nautral wines’ and how fans of this genre seem perfectly willing to overlook serious flaws in some of the individual wines to participate in the trend.

Although we haven’t been nearly as vocal, we kind of feel the same way about ‘orange wines’. While we have a certain appreciation for the intent of the genre, and can respectfully point to producers like Gravner that pioneered and continue to champion this niche style, there are far too many examples out there where the wines are oxidized and dull.

Given that the world continues to support the genre, it is our task to find those special examples that not only showcase the nuances and style that represent the category, but are focused, fresh, and lifted in the glass as well. You may have noticed we don’t address the subject all that often, but the Caravaglio Malvasia Secca Isola de Salina Occhio Di Terra 2020 is definitely something special because it exhibits the style and nuance of the genre, but does so in an appealing, drinkable wine.

The wine is 100% Malvasia from Salina and Lipari, islands off the Sicilian Coast. On the volcanic island of Salina, organic vineyards sit from 600 to 1,200 feet above sea level in the Malfa district (the highest quality vinegrowing area) with a view of the Mediterranean. Soils are a mix of volcanic sand and rock. This wine is a special selection of the ripest Malvasia grapes from vines that 20 to 30 years of age. The grapes are hand harvested and sorted in the field. Gentle, temperature-controlled maceration occurs for 10 days before pressing. The juice is fermented on indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks where it remains for six months.

You have the best of both worlds in the glass. There’s the unique textural aspects and curiously appealing, grainy mouthfeel that is something of a standard in orange wines. But the wine then takes a turn that lifts the whole experience for us. There are aromas of preserved lemons, yellow peach, pineapple, and the unmistakable influence of the sea. The wine itself is dry and a little nutty, but then there is an underlying acidity that keeps everything lifted and fresh. We don’t go looking for orange wine, though we understand it is a category with a following and we’ll taste whatever we are presented. We reject a number of them, but we’d recommend this one as an example of what the category can be, and at a price ($22.98) that makes a lot of sense as well.

Wine Advocate’s Monica Larner conveys the message nicely, “Here’s an exciting discovery. The Caravaglio 2020 Malvasia Occhio di Terra is for sure one of the most interesting wines, from a tasting perspective and an intellectual one, that I discovered on the Aeolian Islands. This Malvasia sees prolonged skin contact in above-ground amphorae. No commercial yeasts are added, and the wine ages on the fine lees for six months, showing us that Malvasia has the fiber and the power to submit to this hands-off winemaking approach. It opens to a medium golden color with lots of ambient light. The aromas are fragrant and rich, covering a wide range, with tea leaf, saffron, apricot and rose. There is also something very Sicilian here that recalls the sweet fruits used in the island’s best desserts… 93 Points.”

Mount Etna: The Awakening Continues

If you ask people dialed into the wine industry what’s the hottest new place to find exciting wines, Sicily’s Mount Etna will get a lot of votes. It isn’t a new area. The appellation got its DOC way back in 1968 and century old vines are not uncommon as are, sadly, terraced vineyards that have been long abandoned. But there are exciting things happening now in terms of quality and the produce of the local varietals, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, is finding many fans.

The wines are unique in profile yet seem hauntingly familiar and strangely compelling. The textures are relatively supple and this particular mountain expresses its terroir of varied soilscapes (it is after all an active volcano) as a melange of supple tufo mineralities. We are sold on the region and have found lots of very interesting wines over the last 15 years or so including the wines of Giuseppe Russo with the Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso ‘a Rina 2016 being one of the finest value plays yet in this emerging category.

Giuseppe Russo, a former pianist, took over the family estate in 2005 and is now farming organically. ‘A Rina is their ‘entry cuvee’ made the old fashioned way with natural yeasts, no refrigeration, hand punch downs, and no fining or filtration. It’s pretty ‘natural’ stuff without any of the funk or oxidation that affect so many such wines. It is a round, easy, flavorful beverage with great purity of fruit and soft tannins (seemingly a common thread for Nerellos).

The press seems to agree on this one. James Suckling says, “Cranberries, boysenberries, red licorice, fresh herbs and some tobacco. The pure fruit character comes through more here than the other single-vineyard bottlings this year, while the tannins are softer, more compact and more velvety. Intense and long on the finish. 94 points.”

Similar kudos from Wine Spectator’s Alison Napjus, “Fresh earth and mineral notes provide an aromatic overtone for flavors of ripe cherry and strawberry fruit in this well-knit and chewy, medium-bodied red. Fresh and creamy, with hints of dried fig, anise and herb lingering on the finish…92 points.”

Let your Etna immersion start here, this one, as you would expect, is also very food-friendly. Is Nerello going to be ‘the next big thing’?

Frankly it wouldn’t surprise us, especially as more producers of this quality hit the market.