Flavia Rallo and her team have won the Silver Medal at the prestigious Concours Mondial de Bruxelles for her inspirational Prephylloxera Etna Rosso 2015.
This is a magical blend of ungrafted Nerello Mascalese (80%) and Nerello Cappuccio (20%). Imagine if Burgundy was planted on the side of a volcano. The Flavia Prephylloxera Etna Rosso is produced from a 1 hectare vineyard on the volcanic soils of Etna personally cared for by the Rallo family. These vines are 130-140 years old (!), planted before the phylloxera louse made it to Sicily in deep sandy-volcanic soils at 900+ meters altitude, in Solicchiata, Castiglione dì Sicilia . They only see organic treatments, are hand-harvested, then native yeast fermented in stainless steel. Following this, the wine matures for at least 48 months in 500 liter Slavonian oak tonneaux of third passage, and then refines at least 12 months in bottle.
This super-rare and limited production wine offers smoky, deep red fruit notes held aloft by a mineral-rich frame that ends in a long, haunting finish. It's like a Grand Cru Burgundy grown on the side of a volcano, ethereal and deep at the same time.
Produced from a 1 ha vineyard on the volcanic soils of Etna by Flavia Rallo. These vines are 130-140 years old- planted before phylloxera made it to Sicily. This Rosso offers smoky, deep red fruit notes held aloft by a mineral-rich frame & a long finish.
Nerello Mascalese is a native black grape variety, prince of the Etna area. The late-maturing plant gives life to wines of absolute finesse, great reds for aging of an intense red color, in which olfactory sensations of red fruit, aromatic herbs, tobacco and spices predominate, together with a typical pleasant tannins. On the palate it is striking for its acidity and marked mineral content typical of the volcanic terroir. Etna Rosso is born from Nerello Mascalese.
Taste: Cherry, strawberry and dark red-fruit on both the nose and palate. Mineral rich structure that plays well off of the smoky undertones, and spice that combine with the finish.
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