2022 Tenuta Terre Nere Etna Rosso, Sicily, Italy (750ml)   

This classically styled Etna Rosso from Tenuta Terre Nere is a blend of 95% Nerello Mascalese and 5% Nerello Cappuccio that was aged for 16 months in large French oak casks and one month in stainless steel. It is probably one of the more consistently delicious wines from Mount Etna with pretty floral, peppery aromas, well toned ripe red fruit flavors on the medium bodied palate and a mineral, lightly tannic yet still silky finish.

It has structure and a cool elegance that makes it hard to resist at under $30 a bottle! It's pretty incredible to consider that Marc de Grazia, an American who imports Italian wines into the U.S., only produced his first wines from Tenuta Terre Nere in 2002. For it is largely thanks to him (and perhaps his somewhat aggressive energy) that Sicily, specifically Mount Etna, is today revered as a world class wine growing region. There are many varying perceptions about Marc's influence on the Italian wine industry but no one can deny the large appeal of his Terre Nere wines.