2015 Etna Bianco Superiore Pietramarina
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Etna Bianco Superiore Pietra Marina is savory and long, with deep, layered notes of savory apricot, saline, and preserved citrus. Full-bodied, it’s fleshy on the palate, with an apricot and stone-fruited texture, salinity, and a long-lasting finish, featuring just a subtle hint of bitter almond. Drink 2025-2035. Proprietors Antonio and Salvino Benanti have been leading their family estate since 2012, following in the footstep of their father Giuseppe. The estate is located on the south side of Etna, where the wines for this report were tasted with Agotino Failla. In the cellar, each of the red Contrade wines was aged for 12 months in French tonneaux prior to resting in the bottle.
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2015 Etna Bianco Superiore Pietra Marina (100% Carricante) is just so lovely. The wine is ethereal, light and delicate. On first nose, you get precise aromas of white peach, zesty pear and blanched almond. As the wine fleshes out and takes on more volume in the glass, it displays a beautiful array of mineral nuances. Those salty flinty notes will continue to evolve over the next ten years. It ages on the fine lees for 24 months in steel vats. Some 9,000 bottles were produced.
100% Carricante. Rain during harvest. Cask sample. No MLF. Hazy straw yellow, but this is a cask sample. Distinct, full nose of preserved lemons. Very linear and almost tart. Super-fresh like a squeeze of lemon, but less multi-layered than 2016. Can age. (WS)
The 2015 Etna Bianco Pietra Marina is impossible to ignore, showing the importance of Carricante on Etna. Honeyed flowers, sweet smoke, raw almonds and nuances of dried apricots form a seductive bouquet. This washes across the palate with soft and supple textures further enhanced by an air of custard as fresh acidity lifts its ripe orchard fruits. The 2015 tapers off gently structured and persistent. Hints of hazelnut and yellow apple seem to linger for well over a minute on the finish.
About the producer
Benanti is one of the founding fathers of modern-day wine in Sicily, with Giuseppe Benanti an early champion of wines made from the slopes of Mount Etna. Today the property is in the hands of Giuseppe’s children and remains one of the region’s leading names.