2015 Etna Rosso Riserva Serra della Contessa
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Tasting notes
Incredibly structured, the garnet red 2015 Etna Rosso Riserva Serra Della Contessa exudes a noble feel, offering a complex yet pure array of aromas, including dried cherries, dried orange, dried herbs, spice, and smoky earth. Medium-bodied but deep and long on the palate, it is hitting its stride, though it should have another ten or more years ahead of it. I wouldn’t expect it to soften much in terms of its grip. Drink 2025-2037. 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
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
85% Nerello Mascalese, 15% Nerello Cappuccio, ungrafted, over 100 years old, co-planted in a vineyard located in Contrada Monte Serra, on the south-east slope of Mount Etna. 2015 was a cool vintage, and the wines, Salvino Benanti said, began tight and pale, taking time to come around. Pressed strawberry and sepia. The first of this Particella 587 vertical to show signs of ageing, but it's still vivid, full of energy and full of upright beauty. Dried cranberry and fresh red-apple peel and apple pips. Tannins are dense and feel like licking slate. A tapestry, a crescendo, orchestral, pixelated. Full of colour. Vivid and absolutely glowing with colour. So many colours, so like a thousand gemstones. (TC)
This is the same historic Serra della Contessa that we recognize from Benanti, although the wine name has changed to register the 100-year-old vines (or "centenario") that make up its fabric. Given the name change, the 2015 Etna Rosso Riserva Alberello Centenario Serra della Contessa is a new wine for all purposes. The blend is 85% Nerello Mascalese and 15% Nerello Cappuccio from the particella 587 in Viagrande, or the vineyard site just behind the winery on the southern side of the volcano. This is a fine and streamlined wine with tart cherry and raspberry flavors followed by crushed stone and volcanic ash. The wine glides smoothly over the palate with silky and well-integrated tannins. With 3,066 bottles produced, I tasted bottle number 1,373.
Nerello Mascalese with a tiny proportion of Nerello Cappuccio, from >100-year-old bush vines on their own rootstocks, fermented spontaneously. Aged in large oak casks. Bottle number 1,961 of 3,066. Developed palish ruby. Deep, spicy herb-liqueur nose with red fruits steeped in alcohol and notes of iron. Supple fruit palate with a neat dose of acidity which fully integrates with the round fruit-lined chewy tannins on the finish. It is an interesting wine but would have benefited from being released earlier. (WS)
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.