A wine’s finest ingredient is the honesty of the man who produces it.
From “La montagna di fuoco” by Salvo Foti
< I Custodi delle vigne dell’Etna
Alnus
Alnus is dedicated to hundreds of generations of Etnean winegrowers that have built what I Custodi are preserving.
The original plan was to make a rosé. But it would be disparaging to just put this wine into a category. It is fresh and sharp-edged like a great white, and at the same time full and comforting as only a good red Etna can be.
Only a few thousand bottles to share: to little for a rosé that is no rosé.
Resources
Brochure (Italian)
From the same producer
Appellation
Etna Rosato DOC
Vineyard
Castiglione di Sicilia (Northern Etna)
Grape varietals
Nerello Mascalese 80%, Nerello Cappuccio
Vines
Espalier, currently in conversion to traditional bush training system
Age of vineyard
10 years
Altitude
650 m amsl
Terrain
Sandy, volcanic, very rich in minerals, with subacid reaction.
Vinification
The grapes are harvest and selected, brought to the winery in shallow crates, where the whole clusters are soft-crushed. The old Etnean “pista e mutta” technique is applied: the must is separated from the skins after a very short maceration. Fermentation at 20-25 °C.
Maturation
In concrete vats for 5 months.
Refining
After bottling for at least 2 months.
Produced bottles
6,600 (2012 vintage)
Tasting notes
Eye: rosé with light ruby glares.
Nose: floreal, with fresh notes of strawberry and raspberry.
Palate: dry, harmonic, spicy, pleasant acidity.
Alcohol
12.5% by vol.