The default move when describing a wine from Sicily’s Mount Etna is to compare it to fine red Burgundy. And while that isn’t wrong, it doesn’t necessarily paint a complete picture, especially when you’re talking about an Etna Rosso like Benanti’s “Rovittello.”
Yes, it is Burgundian in its overall structure, and it hails from what would be a ‘grand cru’ if Etna had such rankings, but there’s also a nod to the crushed velvet texture of Oregon Pinot; the Mediterranean wildness of Bandol reds; and, of course, the black volcanic minerality of its own home, which bears no resemblance to Burgundy whatsoever. “Rovittello,” so named for a village on Etna’s cool north slope where Benanti farms a plot of 80+-year-old Nerello Mascalese (and Nerello Cappuccio) vines, is nothing short of a world wine benchmark: It was bottled evidence of Etna’s world-class status before anyone had begun taking the region seriously. Now, of course, a veritable deluge of winemaking talent, vineyard investment, and acclaim has turned the slopes of Etna into one of wine’s premier destinations. Today’s wine is one of the bottles that started in all—an elite Etna wine and a grand cru in all but name. Plush, fragrant, powerful, mineral…this is delicious, category-defining stuff that is not to be missed!
Across the north slope of Mount Etna, running through towns such as Randazzo, Passopisciaro, and Rovittello, State Route 120 is Etna’s answer to Burgundy’s Route de Grands Crus. Although vines are planted all over the volcano, the north slope—and these villages—are considered the premier terroir thanks to its cooler microclimates. The Benanti family property is still centered around an ancient stone winery structure on the eastern slopes of the volcano, in the village of Viagrande, but the prized plots that supply “Rovittello” sit at about 700 meters’ elevation near the village of Castiglione di Sicilia. With the help of local legend Salvo Foti, Benanti’s longtime enologist, founder Giuseppe Benanti was one of the first on the scene in Etna and shrewdly assembled one of the region’s finest collections of vineyards. The Rovittello plots, like most vineyards on Etna, contain old vines trained in the “bush,” or alberello (“little tree”) style.
And whereas most of Sicily is relentlessly hot and dry, with more fertile soils, Etna is an island unto itself—essentially a “continental” terroir in the heart of the Mediterranean, with wines that reflect their “cool-climate” origins. Not that there’s any lack of ripeness here—there’s intense luminosity and much more rainfall than the rest of Sicily—but the longer growing season ensures that acidity remains fresh and wines maintain balance.
Comprised of 90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Nerello Cappuccio harvested in the second half of October (incredibly late by Sicilian standards), the 2013 “Rovittello” Etna Rosso was aged a little over a year in 225-liter oak casks (a mix of used and new) and then another year in bottle before release. Now with some more bottle age behind it, the wine is starting to enter its sweet spot: In the glass, it’s a reflective ruby red moving to garnet and a touch of orange at the rim, with a heady nose of ripe red and black cherry, currants, raspberry, wet violets and rose, sandalwood, wild herbs, crushed rocks, and a touch of vanilla. It is medium-plus in body with a lush, velvety texture and a long, aromatic finish. It’s a very substantial red with a still-firm, fine-grained tannic underpinning that bodes well for aging—it’s still got a good 10 years in it if you decide to cellar some. Decant it about 30-45 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems, and serve it with a southern Italian baked pasta or, if you’re really looking to put this wine on a pedestal, a
timballo like the one from the movie “Big Night.” This landmark red deserves nothing less!
