Masseria del Pino - 120 year old vines on Mt. Etna
6/19/17 -
I first went to see Mount Etna in 1981; I’m sure we drank wine but I have no idea if it was something local. The mountain was most impressive, and I do remember seeing vines amongst the old lava flows; it seemed incredible that anything could grow there. I loved it, and I loved Sicily. I did visit a couple times after, but didn’t go back to Etna until 2007 when the wines were already becoming very popular, and Terre Nere, Cornelissen, Graci, Biondi, and others of the new era were in full swing. On every subsequent visit more development has been obvious (if not glaring), as in the sleek big new winery above Solicchiata, or the multi-acre field created by bulldozing the old vineyard terraces, courtesy of one of Italy’s biggest wine companies, or the (apparently) rich guy who hired Riccardo Cottarella to make wine because he wants to “fully maximize the purest expression of Etna.”* Land prices have soared, and now Gaja and Davide Rosso (from Barolo) are joining the party. We’ve tasted many of the new wines and they are mostly perfectly fine (when not over-oaked), but certainly not exciting. On the cheerful side, all the fuss is a compliment to the achievement of those already established on Etna, and of course to the potential of the area.
“With the name, I Nove Fratelli [The Nine Brothers] we chose to remember Cesare’s grandfather and his brothers, who as you might imagine, were not abstemious.”
Given the current feverish gold-rush atmosphere, it’s a little surprising to find a true mom-and-pop (Federica and Cesare, that is) operation like Masseria del Pino, making delicious wine that definitely maximizes the purest expression of Etna. It’s truly tiny – a hectare of vines (about 2.5 acres) of 120 year-old bush-trained, organically farmed vines at 800 metres (about 2700 feet) in altitude; a bumper crop would yield about 300 cases of wine (remove some of those for ‘family use’, and there are about 250 cases for sale). To extend the bucolic image: the vines are part of a farm (from Cesare's family), and as Federica says, “400 olive trees, chestnut, oak & cherry trees surround the vineyard, vegetable gardens, sheep, sheep dogs, chickens, geese, etc.” The winemaking is straightforward, making use of the old winery (palmento) on the property; after fermentation and 1-3 weeks of maceration (depending on the year), the wine is aged in old tonneau. The 2015 has 13.5 alcohol, and low SO2 (30mg). We think the label is charming.
The main thing is that the wine is very good! - Jamie Wolff
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*Cottarella has frequently been described as “the Michel Rolland of Italy.” If that’s accurate, to me it means a “winemaker” who swoops in and does whatever it takes to produce a beverage that gets a high score – no manipulations or additives barred. In my past tastings, such wines have not offered a pure expression of anything, other than misguided money.
** I think it was Eric Nairoo who first told me to look out for this wine – anyway - thanks to Eric! So we tried a bottle at San Giorgio e Il Drogone in Randazzo (one of my favorite restaurants, anywhere) and we loved it. Then 2 American friends said we really needed to get the wine here, and that got me off my very slow moving seat. So: special thanks to Jonathan Weiss, and to Jay Cavallaro (who lives on Etna, the lucky so-and so)…
And thanks to Jan d'Amore for the photos of Federica and Cesare.
