MCF Rare Wine

Etna Two Ways
 
Today's two wines are just in time for this perfect middle period where Summer fades into Fall that we now find ourselves enjoying...

...at least I'm enjoying it, and I hope you are too...

Anyway, they come from Sicily's Mount Etna, arguably the hottest real estate in wine over the last 5-10 years, and we have one red, and one white.

But their color is probably not their biggest difference, though...

These are from two wineries that couldn't be more different in their approach and feel.

Federico Curtaz - the maker of the today's Etna Bianco Gamma 2021 - is a native of the Vallée d'Aoste, but spent most of his life in Piemonte.  He grew up on his family's farm there, attended agronomy school in Asti, taught there and, in 1983, met Angelo Gaja.  He worked with Gaja for fifteen years and then, following numerous consulting gigs and other projects, founded his own project under his name.

His wines are appropriately styled as you would expect from someone who worked with Gaja and in places like Burgundy - they're chic, stylish and laser focused.  While his Etna reds can be a bit too stylish for my taste sometimes, I adore his whites for their aromatics, clarity, precision and mineral core, and that's exactly what we have here in his Bianco Gamma.  It's 100% Carricante that races across your palate with lovely citric fruits and bracing acidity, all of which is perfectly complimented by a stony salinity that keeps you going back for another sip.  It's proof that not all Etna has to be aggressively traditional or overtly volcanic in order to communicate its home terroir.  

On the polar opposite of the spectrum in terms of aesthetic and approach, we have Masseria del Pino, and their Etna Rosso I Nove Fratelli 2021.  Situated on the North Slope of Etna, the couple of Cesare Fulvio and Federica Turillo abandoned their urbane lifestyles in 2005 and settled at Cesare's old family winery to live an old-school farmer's life...

...seriously...they live like it's the 1800s in a lot of ways...most notably in their use of the old winery's stone fermentation vats carved out of the lave rock itself.

Initially, all of the wine they made from their terraced vineyards in the Contrada Pino was for their own consumption, but they eventually began selling some to friends, and, now, we're lucky enough to get some here.

The couple's commitment to a 'rustic' lifestyle is reflected in the wine - the ultra-traditional style is so charmingly expressive as to almost belie the seriousness of what's packed inside it.  This 2021 has a slightly more opulent texture to its beautifully fragrant and tarry red fruits, which are held upright by they vibrant acidity and firmly mineral backbone.  It's perhaps a bit primary at the moment, and there's so much earthy, smoky nuance that's locked inside, but you'll still have a really hard time keeping your hands off it.

We also have the last of the 2020 vintage on offer, too - a wine that is already starting to show some of the lovely complexity I mentioned above.  These are both as good examples as you'll find of why Etna Rosso is so often compared to Barolo.

The jet-setting agronomist's wine, and the humble farmer-couple's - both are fabulous, and both deserve some time in your Fall season glass...

FEDERICO CURTAZ Etna Bianco Gamma 2021

MASSERIA del PINO Etna Rosso I Nove Fratelli 2021 & 2020

You may order by calling 212.255.8870.

Matt Franco
MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
249 West 13th Street NYC 10011
212.255.8870

Looking for a wine you loved from a past newsletter or a favorite you can't find anywhere?  Email Raphael at raphael@mcf-rarewine.com, and we'll do our best to find it for you!