Vigneti Vecchio "Malpasso" Contrada Etna Rosso DOC 2024

120 year old vine Vine Etna

Single Vineyard Nerello Mascalese 95% & indigenous white varieties 5%

Contrada ‘Malpasso’, North Etna, Sicily, ITALY

On Etna, individual vineyard districts are called contrade, the volcano's answer to the crus of Burgundy. Malpasso is one of these sites on Etna's north side, and Vigneti Vecchio's bottling comes from remarkable 120 year old Nerello Mascalese vines growing at 610 metres on volcanic soils.

In the old Etna tradition, a small portion (5%) of indigenous white varieties are co-fermented with the Nerello. The grapes are destemmed by hand and spend 15 days on skins, fermenting spontaneously in concrete with only light punch downs and pump overs. The wine then ages for 6 to 8 months in concrete and is racked a month before bottling. No oak, so the old vines and volcanic soil do all the talking.

Expect sour cherry, wild strawberry and pomegranate, with blood orange, dried herbs, a wisp of smoke and that unmistakable crushed volcanic rock minerality. The tannins are fine but firm, the acidity bright, and the finish long and savoury.

This is Etna at its most soulful: old vines, a single site and nothing added to get in the way.

Serve at 15-16°C with rare roast beef, pasta alla Norma, wild mushroom dishes, lamb or seared tuna. Delicious now, with the structure to cellar for several years.