Palmento Costanzo 'Mofete' Etna Rosso

The Wine

A blend of 80% Nerello Mascalese and 20% Nerello Cappuccio from several of the winery's estate vineyards in the Passopisciaro region. Each plot is fermented separately with native yeasts in stainless steel before a selection of the finished batches are assembled and split - 50% goes into stainless steel and the other 50% into 50HL Slavonian neutral oak casks. 

A classic Etna Rosso, offering juicy wild berry aromas wrapped in the signature mineral notes typical of volcanic soils. Grilled, smoked herbs close a delicious finish.

The Winery

This wine comes to us from the Mother-Daughter team of Valeria and Serena Costanzo and their breath-taking, terraced vineyards carved into Mt Etna's volcanic soils. The grapes were grown on their Estate in Contrada Santo Spirito (one of Etna's ~100 Contradas - see map - which are boundaries defined for governmental purposes but also used in describing a vineyard's location. Their Contrada is part of a larger region called Passopisciaro (Passo - to walk. Pisciaro - the lava flow), on the northern side of the Etna volcano.

It's difficult to describe how dominant a figure Mt Etna is for local winemakers, and not just because of its physical presence. They often refer to the active volcano with traditional female pronouns - she/her - or simply as "Volcano", as if that were its name. You might hear them say "I hope to harvest next week, if she'll allow", or "...depending on Volcano". So perhaps it's not surprising to learn the name of this wine - Mofete - is a reference to the volcano, it means “it’s erupting” in Sicilian.

This wine ticks all the boxes for natural wines, but without leading with that glass chin among traditional wine lovers, who will find a wine very much to their liking here. All the energy of Volcano lurks beneath this cork!