Benanti Contrada Cavaliere Etna Rosso 2022
Vol- 75cl
Noble ruby color. On the nose, aromas of red fruit merge with warming herbs and spices. The palate is dry, medium- to full-bodied and structured with ripe tannins and a persistent, harmonious finish.
” The 2022 Etna Rosso Contrada Cavaliere displays a translucent ruby color. It wafts up with a dusting of sweet spice and lavender-laced blackberries. This is cool-toned and crisp, with ripe red berry fruits that slowly saturate as rosy inner florals cascade throughout. Juicy acidity adds mouthwatering freshness as a coating of fine tannins settles in through the long and youthfully structured finale. The 2022 Cavaliere is a remarkably pretty Nerello Mascalese that should only require a short stay in the cellar to show its best. ” 2025 – 2030
92 Points, Eric Guido, Vinous, March 2024
Vineyard in Contrada Cavaliere, on the South-western slope of Mount Etna, within the municipality of Santa Maria di Licodia (CT). This area is known for its high elevation (900 m a.s.l. / 2,950 ft a.s.l.), low rainfall rate and abundant luminosity.
100% Nerello Mascalese, the noble red grape variety of Mount Etna, planted on sandy volcanic soil, with an abundance of skeleton and minerals, with sub-acid reaction. The 50-year-old vines are organized in rows and pruned in Guyot, with a density of 6,500 plants per hectare and a yield of 6,000 kg/ha. The mountainous climate is humid but less rainy than in other areas of Etna in the colder season, with good ventilation and very significant temperature changes between day and night.
Following the manual harvest around mid October, the grapes are fully de-stemmed in the cellar, where fermentation with maceration takes place in stainless steel at a controlled temperature over approximately 21 days, using only indigenous Etna yeasts selected by the winery after a long direct experimentation. The wine matures in French oak tonneaux for 12 months and then in stainless steel and then it spends about 10 months in the bottles before it is released