New Arrivals from Frank Cornelissen - Susucaru Rosato 2024, Munjebel Bianco 2023, and Susucaru Patos Bianco 2022!
11/21/25 -
Frank Cornelissen's wines have been a staple at Chambers Street since about 2006. I was first introduced to them in 2017 when I started in the natural wine scene and remember vividly the allure and excitement surrounding the wines. Frank Cornelissen is a pioneer of the modern natural wine movement, and can be credited with widening the pool of people interested and asking about natural wine. While his wines serve as an entry point for curious folks, they also have the respect and admiration of wine nerds and industry professionals. I am personally very excited about the current releases and can report they're drinking fantastic. Further notes below:
Susucaru Rosato 2024 (magnums available too!)
A blend of red and white grapes: Malvasia, Moscadella, Catarratto, and Nerello Mascalese. While this is called a Rosato, Cornelissen also considers this a light red, inspired by Poulsard from the Jura. Here is an article about Susucaru written by Jamie Wolff from 2017.
Munjebel Bianco 2023
Originally inaugurated as an orange wine, these days the Munjebel sees less time on the skins for better freshness and fruit purity. Frank writes: "With the vintage 2015 I changed our technique to search for the purity and flavors of Etna which evolved in maintaining a short period of skin contact and aging our white wines for an extended period in the coldest part of our cellar before bottling." The 2023 vintage was a challenge for Cornelissen: a mix of hail, mildew, and drought means Frank lost 70% of the crop. In spite of the difficulty, their careful sorting means the vintage is of very high quality. A bit reductive on the nose, the palate is quite fresh and mineral with a supple core of yellow orchard fruit, flint and crushed rocks. It benefits from about an hour of air before drinking and a big swirl in the glass.
Susucaru Patos Bianco 2022 **NEW WINE**
Only the second vintage of this skin contact wine from Frank Cornelissen. The grape is Catarratto Extra Lucido. It is highly aromatic and explodes from the glass with orange zest, apple, Rainier cherry, honey, dried woodsy herbs, ginger, and almond. 10 days of skin contact on Catarratto brings out so much character and texture. I am really excited about this new wine!
-Marisa Licandro
