Etna Bianco DOC Tenuta delle Terre Nere Calderara Sottana 2021

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Etna Bianco DOC Tenuta delle Terre Nere Calderara Sottana 2021

La «cuvée»

First produced in 2007, the cuvée was inspired by a tasting that left a lasting impression on Marco de Grazia: a 42-year-old bottle of Carricante from the slopes of Mount Etna that revealed the grape variety’s extraordinary capacity to age. Determined to recapture that emotion, the winemaker turned to traditional methods and chose to highlight Carricante, now something of a rarity on the volcano’s slopes, accounting for barely 4% of plantings. The Carricante vines used for this wine are rooted in the volcanic soils of Etna’s northern slope, at over 600 metres above sea level, on a 1.5-hectare parcel. Aged between 15 and 60 years, the vines are harvested by hand. The juices then ferment before being aged in large oak foudres (large tuns), shaping a wine of layered complexity and notable longevity. On first impression, the nose is fairly discreet, gradually unfolding with aeration to reveal notes of almond, peach, cinnamon and cardamom, underpinned by a gently toasted backbone. The generous, soft and full palate retains freshness, finishing on refined, lightly bitter tones.

La Tenuta Delle Terre Nere (“domain of the black soils”) was created in 2002 by Marco de Grazia, who had until then worked in the business of selling fine Italian wines since 1980. Situated on the northern slope of Etna, the vineyard obtained organic certification in 2010, though the vines have been cultivated following organic principles since 2002. The vineyard is spread over more than 30 hectares divided into around fifty parcels, at altitudes of between 600 and 1000m. The vines are between 50 and 140 years old and have been cloned using massal selection since 2002. The wines are vinified in barrels and stainless-steel vats with ambient yeasts and the wines then mature in French oak barrels for 16 to 20 months, with a maximum of 10% to 15% new oak. One of the finest producers in the Etna region, producing wines so similar to those found in Burgundy but from Sicily's beautiful terroir.