Tenuta delle Terre Nere, 'Feudo di Mezzo', Etna Rosso, Sicily, Italy, 2022
Country: Italy Region: Marche Vintage: 2022
Grape Variety : 95% Nerello Mascalese 5% Nerello Cappuccio
Category: Red Wine Style: Dry
Producer: Tenuta Delle Terre Nerre
The region north of Mount Etna is currently one of the most exciting wine regions in Italy, with many established winemakers from other regions vying for the increasingly scarce top locations.
One of the first to recognize the potential was the affable Marco de Grazia, one of the icons of the Italian wine scene. He was a pioneer and a role model for his colleagues, thus possessing the most experience and placing his wines at the forefront of the region.
For us, the Tenuta delle Terre Nere is the flagship of Etna wines. International wine critics have also discovered the region and awarded it top marks.
Robert Parker raves about the region and writes almost effusively about the 2014 vintage on Etna:
...I make that claim based on what I believe will be the most exiting vintage for Etna red wines. The yet unreleased 2014 vintage is Etna's ultimate warning sign that something great lays over the horizon. I believe it will be a "make or break" vintage for this emerging wine region in the deep south of Italy. I had the opportunity to preview taste much of the 2014 Etna Rosso in barrel at the Contrade dell'Etna wine event and look forward to scoring the finished wines are soon as they are ready in about six month's time."...
The Feudo di Mezzo Il Quadro delle Rose is an elegant yet full-bodied red wine with profound and complex finesse. Earthy notes paired with red berries leap out at you on the nose, while on the palate it is powerful with dense tannins, yet flattering and captivating.
James Suckling awards it 96 points and writes:
"Pure cherry fruit here, reminiscent of kirsch, with orange peel and an ashy, mineral backbone to it, almost like cracked flint or gunpowder. Similar aromas and flavors on both the nose and on the palate. Medium- to full-bodied, really tense and firm with chalky tannins and a lingering crushed granite and rock sensation on the palate. Seashells, too. Long. Try after 2025."
