Bright bing cherry fruit; a little wood smoke; flinty minerality; some baking spice; great acidity and lift; fine-grained tannins; rose petal florals…no, this is not a lead-in to another red Burgundy offer (although it could be). It’s a lead-in to another Etna Rosso offer, which means, among other things, that it’ll cost you a lot less to continue reading (especially in this case).
This wine from Murgo is a genuine wine of place, with a real pedigree, for under $20. I taste it and think, how is this possible? Well, a long history certainly helps: the Scammacca del Murgo family has been farming the ashy slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna for more than 100 years. They are one of the ‘O.G.’ wine families on Etna, not subject to the bid-up land values, new construction costs, and other price pressures in a zone that has seen more than its share of Johnny-come-latelys. A good analog might be one of the grand old bodegas of Rioja, releasing beautiful, long-aged Gran Reservas at prices well below those of their new-generation neighbors. In either case, we’re delighted to be the beneficiary: Murgo’s 2014 Etna Rosso is a balanced, elegant expression of the native Nerello Mascalese grape, which very much belongs in Pinot Noir’s esteemed company. It is an absolute steal that will confound and amaze even your fanciest wine friends.
The ever-bubbling Mount Etna, whose slopes of black, sandy ash and pumice rock were among the few pockets of Europe to escape the phylloxera menace of the late-19th century, is hard to beat when it comes to romantic wine locales. Still scattered with as many abandoned vineyards as producing ones, the classic Etna image is one of gnarled, old, bush-trained vines known as ‘alberelli’ (‘little trees’). Vineyard altitudes on the volcano reach up to 1,000 meters, making it some of the highest-elevation viticulture in Europe and the only ‘cool’ region of Sicily, which otherwise has more in common with North Africa than much of mainland Italy when it comes to climate. Baron Emanuele Scammaca del Murgo, a longtime Italian diplomat, decided to re-dedicate his family’s Etna property to wine production back in 1981, a time when Etna wine was little talked-about—most of what was produced from the smattering of ancient vineyards here was sold to co-ops for bulk wine.
To say that Etna has been a “gold rush” since then is a dramatic understatement. Big Sicilian (and non-Sicilian) wine concerns have arrived on the volcano en masse; while in the late-1980s there were maybe a half-dozen serious commercial producers on Etna, that number has since ballooned to more than 100. It’s hard to argue with the results: we’ve offered more than our share of newer-generation Etna wines here, but it’s extra-satisfying to give a heritage producer some shine. From their 25 hectares of high-altitude vineyards in Zafferana Etnea, on the eastern slopes of Etna, the Murgo family’s diverse production includes excellent Champagne-method sparklers from Nerello Mascalese that also over-deliver at a remarkably low price.
Whether you’re inclined to compare Nerello Mascalese to Pinot Noir or to another aromatic red, the Italian Nebbiolo (some producers liken Nerello’s tannins more readily to Nebbiolo’s), it is perfume and finesse that set it apart from many other southern Italian reds—including Sicily’s own Nero d’Avola, known for much inkier, plumper wines. Still, even at a relatively cool 500 meters elevation, Etna’s sunlight intensity is still borderline equatorial, and there are instances when Etna reds give off a little alcohol heat and syrupy extract. But not here. This is balanced and buoyant, more Pinot than Nebbiolo (in our humble opinion). In the glass it’s a bright ruby-red with some orange reflections on the rim. The nose has a touch of tomato leaf, rose/violet and savory herb interwoven with crisp, tangy cherry/berry fruit—black cherry, raspberry, and plum. The acid and smoky, volcanic minerality give the wine energy and grip, while the tannins remain fine-grained and soft. It is the perfect-sized wine, no excesses of anything, and it’s ready to drink now: serve this at about 60 degrees in Burgundy bowls to highlight its perfumed aromatics, and enjoy it alongside pizza or pasta, preferably a recipe that’s as transporting as the wine. Here’s an
old school, southern Italian baked pasta to pair with it. Get on this stuff—and buon appetito!
