Compelling and nuanced – the nose is ethereal and intense, with hints of wild berries, spices and noble wood. The palate is full, elegant, harmonic, mineral, significantly persistent and with concentrated grip of Patrician old vines.
“The 2019 Etna Rosso Riserva Serra Della Contessa Particella No. 587 Alberello Centenario is highly expressive. It opens with a spice box bouquet of clove, incense and cinnamon, giving way to a touch of dried black cherry. Its silky textures soothe as a polished wave of ripe red berry fruits washes across the senses, leaving a tactile mineral tinge in their wake. Violet inner florals linger through the long and structured finale as a tart cranberry saturation fades slowly. ” 2027 – 2034
95 Points, Eric Guido, Vinous, May 2025
After almost twenty years of experience vinifying the well-known Etna Rosso Serra della Contessa, in 2015 Benanti decided to aim for new heights by focusing exclusively on the small, pre-phylloxera portion of the vineyard and extending the wine’s vinification, maturation and refining period to 60 months, thereby creating this new, exclusive Etna Rosso Riserva produced in a very limited quantity.Nerello Mascalese (c.85%), Etna’s noble indigenous red variety, and Nerello Cappuccio (c.15%), a grape cultivated on Etna for centuries, co-planted in the same vineyard.
The very steep vineyard is planted on a sandy, volcanic soil, rich in minerals and pumice lava stones, with sub-acid reaction. The head-trained bush vines (“alberello”) are pre-phylloxera and ungrafted, with a planting density of 9,000 to 10,000 vinestocks per hectare and a yield of 4,500 kg/ha. The area’s high hill climate, mitigated by the proximity to the Ionian Sea, is humid and rainy in the cooler season, with constant good ventilation and high luminosity.
The grapes are hand-harvested and selected in late September or early October. Fermentation takes place in a stainless steel vat at a controlled temperature of 25° C, with a long maceration, with the aid of Benanti’s own indigenous yeast, which was selected from local vineyards through years of research and experimentation in the cellar. Malolactic fermentation takes place in stainless steel, then maturation occurs in large barrels of French oak (15hl) for about 24 months. The refining period in the bottle is 12 months.
