If we ever release a SommSelect “Greatest Hits” compilation, today’s Etna Rosso from Murgo may well be the first wine on the list. I believe we’ve offered more vintages of this wine than any other, because every time a new one shows up, it shocks and amazes us all over again. Today’s 2017 is deliciously true to form—floral, lushly fruited, smoky—while also reminding us that patience is a virtue.
We were eager to get our hands on this latest release but decided it'd be best to wait one full month to neutralize any bottle shock from its overseas travels. When that day finally arrived, our restraint was thoroughly rewarded: The aromatic, plush, spicy red we’ve come to know and love was there in full force. The 2017 edition, in fact, has a little more “oomph” on the mid-palate than some versions past and offers a pitch-perfect introduction to one of the most dynamic wine regions on earth. On Sicily’s Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, the Scammacca del Murgo family has been farming vines on the volcano for more than 100 years, so they’ve managed to keep prices low in a zone whose increasingly trendy wines get more expensive each year. As I’ve said about this wine before: It’s a sure thing!
Still scattered with abandoned vineyards and lava flows, 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 ancient vineyards here was sold to cooperatives for bulk wine. Nevertheless, Murgo is one of the originals here, farming 25 hectares of vineyards in and around Zafferana Etnea, on the eastern slopes of Etna, which is home to fewer producers than the more densely planted north slope. The Murgo family’s diverse production also includes excellent Champagne-method sparklers from the same Nerello Mascalese grape that drives today’s bright and spicy red.
Like its home region, the Nerello Mascalese variety has catapulted to international fame. By law, it represents a minimum of 80% of any wine carrying the Etna Rosso ROC designation, typically buttressed by the color-enhancing Nerello Cappuccio. Murgo goes with 100% Mascalese for its Etna Rosso, which means it’s always on the more pale and perfumed end of the Etna Rosso spectrum. And it’s precisely the aromatic, Pinot Noir-like personality of Nerello Mascalese that has drawn so much attention to Etna; this is not an inky, syrupy red fitting the (admittedly outdated) “southern Italian” stereotype, but rather a genuine cool-climate red of finesse and nerve.
Sourced from 30+-year-old vines and vinified and aged entirely in stainless steel tanks, the 2017 Murgo Etna Rosso is another triumph of purity and place-expressiveness. In the glass, it’s a deep garnet red moving to pink at the rim, with inviting aromas of wild strawberries, red currant, blood orange, dried rose petals, leather, flint, and a hint of smoke. Medium-bodied in ’17 and alternately lush and crunchy on the palate, it is the ultimate Italian vino quotidiano (“daily drinker”). Decant it about 30 minutes before serving in Burgundy stems and keep it nice and cool—55 degrees or even a little less—to maximize its fruit expression. If tasting this wine blind, one might be tempted to think was Pinot Noir from some cool-climate terroir like the Jura or the Loire, but its herbal, saline Mediterranean qualities should pull you south. Whenever I think of this wine I think of a Sicilian-style caponata as an ideal pairing. Summer will be here before you know it!
