Emiliano Falsini - Etna Rosso Feudo Pignatone Davanti Casa 2019
Price: $94.99
Producer | Emiliano Falsini |
Country | Italy |
Varietal | Nerello Mascalese |
Vintage | 2019 |
Sku | 29398 |
Emiliano Falsini Description
Emilio Falsini has been a consulting enologist on Etna for years, working with Alberto Graci, Giuseppe Russo (Girolamo Russo), and others. Eventually he decided that he had to be involved with Etna as a producer himself, and he bought around 3 hectares of vineyards near Passopisciaro, on the north side of Etna.
Volcanic soils can produce fascinating wines, and the soils here on the north face of Mount Etna are composed entirely of decomposed lava flows. (Many volcanic regions in southern Italy have thin layers of volcanic ash interspersed with normal soil, not here.) This is one of the most visually striking grape growing areas anywhere, with the main cone of Mount Etna, often with a curl of volcanic gasses at its peak, looming in the distance. As is typical on this north face of the volcano the vines are planted almost entirely to Nerello Mascalese; the area is already famous for red wines, no news there, but I think that the best rosés from here are some of the best in Italy, at least as good as the reds.
Feudo Pignatore 'Davanti Casa'
"Century-old-vine Nerello Mascalese from near Randazzo, on the north side of Mount Etna at about 700 meters (2,300 feet) above sea level. Yields are very low, less than 2 pounds per vine; the grapes are normally harvested in late October; about 2/3 of the bunches are crushed, the remainder left whole; fermentation and maceration take about 2 weeks, with daily punch down; the resulting wine is then aged on the fine lees in small new barrels for about 10 months.
Pale Pinot-like color; the aroma is very complex, wild strawberry, cherry pit, wild herbs, tea leaf; very fine palate impression, expressive fruit balanced with wild herbs and tea-leaf notes; very long. This is a new project but I can’t wait to taste this wine at a few years of age in the bottle. Fine tannins make for a versatile food wine, but I think lamb chops would be a particularly good match." - Oliver McCrum, importer