Walking the vineyards at Fattorie Romeo del Castello is like stepping back in time. While this southern Italian countryside is sprinkled with thousands of beautiful, small family estates, it is a truly breathtaking landscape. Clinging thousands of feet high up on Sicily’s Mount Etna—a still active volcano—a brilliant young woman, Chiara Vigo, tends to her family’s 100+-year-old oak trees and grapevines. These soils, nourished by the nearby Alcantara river as it snakes down Mount Etna, are among the most fertile and life-giving in Sicily. How else can one explain the family’s gnarled and ancient olive tree that is over 1,000 years old? This property’s severe, mystical and stunning beauty is made all the more impressive when one realizes that the property sits dead center in Mount Etna’s lava flow. In 1981, a particularly destructive eruption tore thru the family’s property and wiped out 65% of the vineyards, leaving only ash and hardened lava. Fortunately, a few acres of the family’s oldest Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio vines were spared. In addition to the ancient vines that remain tucked between tentacles of hardened lava, Chiara has planted new vines in the last decade that she farms with equally fanatical care and attention to detail. Chiara uses no herbicides or pesticides, ever, and she nurtures both the young and old vines with only organic methods and fertilizers.
In the cellar, she employs a masterful and similarly gentle touch. Fermentation on skins is carried out in stainless steel tanks for 12 days before extended aging in tank and bottle. There is no filtering, and only a very small amount of natural, mined sulfites are added only at bottling in some vintages—in other particularly outstanding years, the wine does not see the addition of anything, at all. This is as pure as winemaking can get and the results of Chiara’s confident and informed cellar skills are nothing short of stunning. She produces two wines: the estate’s top wine, “Vigo”, and this supposedly more modest “Allegracore” bottling. Still, I must say that in the 2014 vintage, Allegracore is anything but modest—it’s an instant classic that stands shoulder to shoulder with the finest Sicilian wines. This region’s wines are often dense and closed in their youth, and even the top bottlings in the appellation require patience before they blossom. Still, when top quality Etna wines are mature and in their prime, there is a certain sense of restrained or even muted intensity. None of the above is the case with the 2014 Allegracore. This wine is beautiful and alive with no decanting or cellar aging required.
The Romeo Del Castello, Allegracore, Etna Rosso 2014 has a dark crimson core moving into garnet reflections on the rim. The nose displays vivid black cherry, freshly picked berries, wild herbs and white flowers with a black volcanic mineral backdrop. But this is not an overly rich and heavy wine; it is one defined by energy, verticality, and refreshment. The palate is concentrated and layered with fruit similar to the nose with a touch of spice from the volcanic soil. While there is much more to say about this wine, I’ll stop here and conclude with two words: Bone-in Ribeye. Please set aside an evening when you get your wine to savor this wine with some roasted potatoes and a
perfectly prepared medium-rare bone-in beef ribeye. Trust me on this one.
