Etna Rosso DOC Prephylloxera Don Peppino 2021 Terre Nere

This wine has impressive depth and complexity with an array of red and dark berries mixed with dark chocolate, ground spices and burnt orange peel. All these scents sit on a bed of smoked, ashy dark stones and wet asphalt undertones. Full and deep with very fine, silky tannins. So much tension and power here. It lasts for minutes and finishes with a seamless, textured finish. From old vines from before the phylloxera plague. Try it now, but it will age beautifully. Best after 2026.

The 2021 Etna Rosso Prephylloxera La Vigna di Don pepCalderara Sottana is something to behold. The color alone baffles the mind: a translucent ruby that misleads the taster to expect a delicate and lifted effort. This opens slowly in the glass, smoky and intense, evolving with ash and rosemary suggestions. A core of crushed wild berries and exotic spice comes to the fore. It’s deeply textural yet deceptively energetic, with silken waves of dark red fruit that wash across the palate, leaving a salty staining of minerals and savory herbs in their wake. A complex web of fine-grained tannins clamps down hard, balanced by a twang residual acidity, as inner florals and hints of tangerine slowly dissipate. Patience will be required.