2019 Calabretta, Massimiliano - Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT Sara (750ml)

The Calabretta family has grown grapes on the north slope of Mount Etna since around 1900. For most of the twentieth century they sold their wine in bulk to restaurants and private customers. In 1997, father and son Massimo and Massimiliano Calabretta started bottling their best wine under the family name, to keep their own and Etna’s winemaking traditions alive. Massimiliano, who also teaches electrical engineering at a university, farms terraced vineyards near Randazzo, many of them old and ungrafted. He uses no synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides, picks by hand, and is known for patient, traditional aging.

Sara is one of the estate’s smallest bottlings, usually only about 125 cases. It comes from a single vineyard of Nerello Mascalese, more than fifty years old, in the Feudo di Mezzo area of Etna’s north side. The volcanic soils and high elevation give the wine its freshness and its savory, mineral side. The grapes ferment for five to seven days before pressing. The wine then ages about a year in used tonneaux before bottling, so it shows a fruit-forward side compared with the family’s long-aged Vigne Vecchie.

Sara opens with clove, cherry compote, plum and brown spice. Ripe fruit, richness and firm structure are well balanced. Serve it with slow-roasted lamb, pork shoulder or paella.