The more I taste wines grown on the slopes of Mount Etna, the more I like them because they have a Burgundian sensibility about them — what I call flavor without weight. This wine, a blend of Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, the two grapes typically grown on Etna, is both fragrant and mineraly. You can almost smell and taste the lava. Paradoxically, it conveys an elegant austerity and explosive cherry-like flavors. It’s a firm wine, but not hard nor astringent. It has the beauty and energy of a taut gymnast. Lovely now to savor with hearty pasta or game, I suspect it will develop additional complexity and nuance with bottle age because of its impeccable balance.
Vivera, Etna Rosso DOC (Sicily, Italy) 2011
By Michael Apstein