I Vigneri Etna Rosso

Here is a great wine that really hit the mark with my homemade pizza - I Vignetti Etna Rosso 2019 - Terre Siciliane, Italy. It’s a blend of Nerollo Mascalese and Nerolo Capuccio…. Let’s talk about the what makes this wine so special.

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea which served as a pitstop for many ancient civilizations such as the Greeks, Phoenicians, Arabs and Italians. They have all influenced Sicily, shaped it into what it is today. In the past Sicily got a bad rap for bulk wines produced through high yields for the boot of Italy. That couldn’t be farther from the truth…. today they are making exciting, vibrant, fresh wines that have a distinctive salt and smoke element to them, thanks to the volcanic soils and influences from Mount Etna.  Sicily has a unique terroir, lovely indigenous varieties and heavily ingrained winemaking traditions.

In 2001 he founded I Vigneri di Salvo Foti. The winery is named after a medieval winegrowers' guild established in 1453. For many years Salvo Foti was a winemaking consultant to some of the island’s top estates - Benanti, Gulfi, and ViniBiondi, to name a few. He is a strong advocate of old winemaking techniques, indigenous grapes and respect of the terroir. Planted on old, terraced vineyards up to 200 years of age, these vines are organically cared.  These wines are not fined or filtered, and all fermentation is spontaneous with indigenous yeast.

This wine has a deep ruby color and incredibly aromatic. It smells like Sicily. It has balanced acidity, medium fine grained tannins, medium alcohol and medium+ body with flavors raspberry, cherry, red plums, tar, smoke, minerals, tomato leaf, balsamic, pepper, anise, leather, cedar, prune and violet and a long finish. It has elegance and complexity yet it’s so very easy to drink, with or without food.

Pair with bacon wrapped pork loin, sausage & peppers, provolone and mushroom pizza, smoked red pepper and basil tart. I paired it with homemade pizza