2019 Famiglia Statella “Pettinociarelle” Etna Rosso

Calogero Statella is probably Etna’s most experienced and smartest winemakers. After graduating top of his class during his studies he was quickly snapped up by one of Italy’s wine giants Mezzacorona. After a decade working as the oenologist for Terre Nerre, one of the original pioneering wineries that put Etna on the map, Cal and his wife Rita decided to make their own wine. In 2016 he purchased a vineyard together with his wife Rita located in Pettinociarelle. Nerello Mascalese is a highly regarded, dark-skinned grape variety that grows most commonly on the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily. Its wines, which have had a rapid upsurge in popularity in the last decade, have a tendency to reflect their surroundings, giving taut, fresh red wines with fruity, herbaceous flavors, excellent minerality and an earthy nuance. Nerello Mascalese wines often have a perfume reminiscent of those of the noble wines of Barolo and Burgundy. Why do we like it? In the glass, Statella’s 2016 is a bright, reflective ruby-red moving to pink at the rim, with a highly perfumed and detailed nose of red and black cherry, red currant, wild strawberry, warm spices, grilled herbs, and underbrush. Medium-bodied and silken-textured, it has the nerve and aromatic lift of well-made Burgundy Pinot Noir. Serve at about 16 degrees and certainly can decant this wine.   Grape           Nerello Mascalese Country        Italy                             Region          Sicily                               Vintage         2019