2025 Girolamo Russo - Etna Rosato DOC (750ml)

Before he ever made wine, Giuseppe Russo trained as a concert pianist and held a doctorate in literature, and he still says his approach in the cellar owes something to ideas of structure and composition borrowed from music. When his father, Girolamo, died unexpectedly in 2004, Giuseppe returned home to Passopisciaro to take over the family's twelve hectares rather than sell them, founding this estate the following year in his father's name. Entirely self-taught, he built his early winemaking philosophy by learning alongside the wave of vintners then reshaping Etna, and today farms organically across roughly eighteen hectares of old, bush-trained vines on the volcano's north slope.

This rosato is made entirely from Nerello Mascalese, hand harvested and pressed as whole clusters with only a brief maceration on the skins, just enough to draw out its pale, Provençal-style color. Fermentation happens in stainless steel with native yeasts at controlled temperature, and the wine rests briefly in tank before bottling, a process built around preserving freshness and precision rather than richness or weight.

The wine shows delicate aromas of peach, wild strawberry, and orange peel, layered with a savory, saline minerality typical of Etna's volcanic soils. Crisp acidity carries through to a long, clean finish. It's an easy match for grilled fish, light pasta, or simple Mediterranean cooking.