Aromas of ash, baked strawberry and toasted herbs. Medium-to full-bodied with silky tannins. Mineral, with some savory herbal character, but it remains pleasantly red-fruited throughout. Very well layered and balanced. Drink or hold.
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Sicily’s star is ascendant in the wine community, and it seems that when anyone looks at Sicily these days, their eyes are immediately drawn to the island’s most prominent topographic feature, the great volcano Mount Etna. Etna wines are almost as hot as the lava inside that peak, metaphorically speaking. Sicily has been well known as a major source of Italian wine forever, but until relatively recently it was viewed as a producer of bulk wines for export or cheap everyday wines. With the revolution in quality that has taken place on the island in the past decade, though, that reputation has been turned on its head, and Sicilian wines are being sought out by wine buyers and consumers—none more so than the wines of Etna.
The Tasca d'Almerita family, one of Sicily's oldest and most esteemed wine families, is now led by seventh generation Alberto Tasca. The family, who has been making wine across Sicily for over 200 years, is a leading producer of Etna wines at its Tenuta Tascante estate (the name is a portmanteau of Tasca and Etna). The estate was founded in 2007 with the purchase of two vineyards in the communes of Castiglione di Sicilia and Randazzo on the north face of the volcano. The northern exposure is a cool-climate area, due to the combination of elevation and less direct sun, which helps to retain acidity in the wines.
The Tasca family currently owns four parcels, located in the contrade of Pianodario and Sciaranova in Randazzo, and Rampante and Grasà in Castiglione. (A contrada is a small subdivision of a commune, based on various defining criteria such as elevation, cultural/historical significance, or the age of past lava flows.) The vineyards are mostly at elevations of 2,450 to 2,600 feet (750–800 meters) on the 11,000-foot mountain. All are certified as sustainable under SOStain, a Sicilian-based program that rates wineries and vineyards based on their impact on the environment, in conjunction with the Italian Ministry of the Environment’s VIVA indicators of sustainability.
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LOCATIONWINERY: Castiglione di Sicilia (Catania province), Sicily VINEYARD: Mount Etna, Sicily VIEW IN GOOGLE MAPS REGION DETAILS |
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94
AUGUST 2022
Tenuta Tascante Contrada Rampante Etna DOC 2019
Aromas of ash, baked strawberry and toasted herbs. Medium-to full-bodied with silky tannins. Mineral, with some savory herbal character, but it remains pleasantly red-fruited throughout. Very well layered and balanced. Drink or hold. 92
AUGUST 2023
Tenuta Tascante “Ghiaia Nera” Etna DOC 2021
Sweet berry and orange peel with peach undertones as well as lemon blossom. Medium body, with crunchy fruit and a fresh and lightly chewy finish. Delicious wine now, showing volcanic character with ashy and smoky undertones. Drink or hold. 93
OCTOBER 2021
Tenuta Tascante Contrada Pianodario Etna DOC 2017
A lovely red for a porcini recipe, the 2017 Etna Rosso Contrada Pianodario reveals a delicate and silky fiber with a fine embroidery of red fruit, cassis, smoke, tar and pressed flowers. The Tasca take on Etna underlines purity and elegance, and there are few extra bells, whistles or other distractions. The wine brings you to the essence of the volcano with some hot-vintage ripeness and roundness. Pianodario is located in Randazzo on the northern side of Etna. 96
JANUARY 2020
Tenuta Tascante Contrada Rampante Etna DOC 2016
Intense and linear, this vibrant red has intriguing aromas of wild red berry, violet, dark spice, crushed stone and eucalyptus. On the lithe, racy palate, polished tannins and lively acidity frame crunchy red cherry, strawberry compote, orange zest and licorice before a saline finish. Drink 2021–2028. 92
OCTOBER 2019
Tenuta Tascante “Buonora” Etna DOC 2018
The unoaked 2018 Etna Bianco Buonora is a linear and crisp expression of the Carricante grape that is native to this part of Sicily and does particularly well on Etna. The grape absorbs the direct freshness and salinity of these volcanic soils with a snappy and crisp style that is likely to take on volume and depth as the wine continues its bottle evolution. White peach and citrus are enhanced by honey, rose and a Riesling-like touch of diesel fuel. Some 25,000 bottles were released. 92
OCTOBER 2020
Tenuta Tascante “Ghiaia Nera” Etna DOC 2017
Floral and juicy, with typical nerello mascalese flavors of dark plum, cherry, dried thyme and lavender, Ghaia Nera offers a great entry point to Etna Rosso. 94
OCTOBER 2019
Tenuta Tascante Contrada Sciaranuova Etna DOC 2016
The 2016 Etna Rosso Contrada Sciaranuova is made with fruit from vines planted in 2008 at 730 meters above sea level. This is a classic expression from Etna with an even dose of wild berry, rose, mineral and spice. This wine shows an attractive level of balance and harmony, and I am especially attracted to those distinctive volcanic or mineral tones that frame this delicate, almost fragile wine. This Etna Rosso is mostly aged in large Slavonian oak casks, but a small part goes into 300-liter tonneaux. This adds a bit more volume and girth to the finish. Production is 5,000 bottles. 93+
JUNE 2021
Tenuta Tascante Contrada Pianodario Etna DOC 2017
The 2017 Contrada Pianodario Etna Rosso opens slowly, focused at first on wild herbs and hints of damp earth. It blossoms with swirling, as a dusty display of dried strawberries and rose hips fills the glass. It’s soft, even fleshy in feel, yet supported by brisk acids and ripe red and black fruits. A coating of fine tannin mounts toward the close, revealing the Pianodario’s youthful poise, all under an air of violet florals and a jolt of tart woodland berries. This is certainly the most structured of Tenuta Tascante’s single vineyards from 2017, but also the most likely to benefit from medium-term cellaring. |