2022 Girolamo Russo - Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo (750ml)
Giuseppe Russo was a concert pianist and scholar of literature when his father, Girolamo, passed away, forcing a choice between selling the family's vineyards or returning home to learn winemaking. He chose the latter, founding this estate in 2005 in Passopisciaro, the village on Etna's north slope where his family has deep roots, and named it in his father's memory. Neighboring vintner Andrea Franchetti helped show him how Nerello Mascalese could produce structured, age-worthy wine, and Giuseppe has since built a fifteen-hectare estate of organically farmed vineyards, many planted with vines over eighty years old, spread across several of Etna's volcanic contrade.
San Lorenzo is the largest and highest of the contrade Russo farms, sitting near Randazzo at 750 to 780 meters, where old, free-standing bush vines grow in soils that balance sand and stone. This wine is roughly 97% Nerello Mascalese with a small share of Nerello Cappuccio, fermented in stainless steel with an extended maceration, then aged about eighteen months in used barrique followed by a further six months resting in bottle.
The result is a spice box of clove, cinnamon, and orange peel, layered with red and blue fruit, violet, and lavender, all carried by fine-grained tannins and a mineral, almost stony finish. It pairs naturally with roasted meats, game, or aged cheeses.