I absolutely loved this wine. And that made me VERY happy because in January 2024, we’ll be staying at an Airbnb in Passopisciaro, just down the road from this winery. Between Planeta, Palmento Costanzo, Frank Cornelissen, Filippo Grasso, Tenuta delle Terre Nere, Cottanera, and Girolamo Russo, we’ve got a lot of great wine to look forward to on the northern slopes of Mount Etna.
MY NOTES: This wine is 94% Nerello Mascalese and 6% Nerello Cappuccio. It’s a pale, very bright ruby color, with a nose of strawberries and red cherries, limited oak influence, and very earthy and mushroomy – just like a good Pinot Noir. A medium+ acid wine with medium tannins.
The Italian market, Eataly, said that this wine “has become a benchmark wine from Sicily.” I wasn’t surprised to read that. It begs for good food, and would taste amazing with pasta dishes or hard cheeses. Not bad for a $40 wine. Makes we want to try their single vineyard Etna Rosso wines: Feudo di Mezzo & San Lorenzo.
CRITICS: James Suckling gave this vintage a 94; Robert Park’s Wine Advocate a 93. $0.42/point is outside my mega-value range of ($0.15-0.30/point), but it’s not far off. Robert Parker wrote “the ‘a Rina offers terrific value with wild berry, blue flower, and crushed stone over an elegant mouthfeel. The emphasis is on freshness and balance.”
WINEMAKER NOTES: “Ruby red with an elegant nose of good complexity and notes of cherries and plums, leather and tobacco. Fresh and complex, with supple, velvety tannins and good structure. Pleasurable to drink, with lovely length.”
Brixen Mortar Wines 