Region: Etna Rosso, Sicily, Italy

Varietal: 100% Nerello Mascalese

Tasting notes: This wine expresses the true characteristics of Nerello Mascalese grown on the eastern slope of Etna. Fragrant with floral, graphite and spice notes, this bright and juicy, light- to medium-bodied red features macerated cherry and strawberry fruit, mineral and wild herb flavors tightly meshed to crunchy tannins.

Producer: For more than 100 years, the Scammacca del Murgo family has cultivated vines and olives under the fiery gaze of Mount Etna in Sicilia. More than once this active volcano has destroyed vineyard plots and covered their family home under ash—events that would rattle the nerves of even the most daredevil winemakers. Yet for the Scammacca del Murgo clan, it’s just the price one pays for the privilege of growing vines in one of the more dynamic and breathtaking wine regions on earth. Up until the 1970s, Baron Emanuele and his family produced wine for locals in Santa Venerina. Friends and extended family would visit the estate, chatting with the “baron” while filling up their damigiana with wine for the week. It was in 1981 when Emanuele decided the time was ripe to move away from bulk production to focus on Etna’s exceptional volcanic terroir and its native grape, Nerello Mascalese.

Vineyard and Winemaking: Caring for vines and crafting wine has always been a family affair; the baron’s eight sons—Michele, Pietro, Matteo, Filippo, Alessandro, Bernardo, Manfredi and Costantino—all have a role, either in the fields or in the cantina, with the singular goal of ensuring that their father’s pioneering work in redefining the face of Etna wine continues. Currently Murgo’s 30 hectares of vineyards are located on three farms: San Michele in Santa Venerina, Gelso Bianco near Catania, and La Francescana in Aprilia. 1982 saw the first bottling of Etna Rosso, while their first vintage of Brut sparkling was in 1990. Farming is done sustainably with the goal of producing pleasing wines inextricable from their terroir with the lowest possible environmental impact.