Calabretta - Rosato 2021 (750ml)

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Price: $28.99

3+ Price: $23.99 / btl

6+ Price: $22.99 / btl

12+ Price: $22.99 /btl

Producer	Calabretta
Country	Italy
Region	Sicilia
Varietal	Nerello Mascalese
Vintage	2021
Sku	116139
Size	750ml
ABV	13.00%

Calabretta Description

Williams

Vinous Media 91
"The 2021 Rosato is a deep translucent red. It shows a seductively complex bouquet of incense, clove, dusty rose and black cherries. This is vividly fresh and energetic, with wild berry fruits contrasting silken textures as citrus nuances and nervous acidity maintain a lovely tension. The 2021 leaves a salty flourish behind while tapering off with red licorice and brown spice notes that slowly fade. This varietal Nerello Mascalese is packed full of zesty character."~Eric Guido

(Organic) "This 100 percent Nerello Mascalese Rosato is fashioned primarily from Calabretta's ungrafted vines planted on the sandy, rocky slopes of Mount Etna. A deeply colored Rosato that's the opposite of the spring Rose you drink through the warm months. It has aromas of blood orange, cranberry, olives, and smoke. Fresh and lively on the palate, where spicy cherries, red licorice, cloves and allspice mingle with Etna's peppery soil signature. Fine tannins emerge on the wines back-palate and segue to a long, appetizing finish of cherries, red currants, spice, and volcanic earth. A year-round Rosato that is as complex as it is delicious, just as you'd expect from Calabretta!"~Distributor Notes

About Calabretta
"The Calabretta wines hail from the DOC of Etna Rosso in North-eastern Sicily. The grapes here are primarily the indigenous Nerello Mascalese with a bit Nerello Cappuccio interplanted. The vineyards are planted between 300 and 900 meters on the slopes of Mount Etna, an active volcano that looms in the distance for much of eastern Sicily. The soils are a combination of black volcanic ash and sand which are fine and almost silty, with lots of lava rocks and good drainage.

When Doug first met Massimiliano Calabretta, a part-time college professor at the University of Genova, his first words were: "I make my wine like Bartolo Mascarello!". Given that most Sicilian wine is made very much in the modern style, Doug was excited to see what a traditional-style wine from this region and varietal would be like! Sure enough, most of the vines are 70-80 years old, with a good portion ungrafted. They are organically farmed. The Etna Rosso is aged for 6-7 years in large Botti before being bottled.

There is an old Nebbiolo-like profile to the wines. The aromas are steeped in dried cherries, tar, licorice, and hints of ashy/volcanic soil tones. Given the high elevation and big diurnal temperature shifts (they have ski slopes on Etna as well!), the wines retain a freshness and delineation that recalls a mature Barolo, northern Rhone or even a sturdier, earthier red Burg. Also, with the provenance and age of the wines, they represent a terrific relative value.

Calabretta also makes about 2,000 bottles a year of a rare white wine made from (mostly) old vine Carricante, interplanted with Minella Bianca (for acidity). It is aged in a combo of tank and neutral wood. This intriguing white is somewhat reminiscent of Pepe's Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, with melony fruit and hints of straw, hay and almonds. According to Massimiliano, Carricante is somewhat tight in its youth and requires a couple of years to express itself, so he holds it back before release. There is ample weight and texture, lovely acidity and a real sense of "grip" (almost tannic) on the palate. As such, it is a perfect wine to pair with all kinds of food!

These are truly unique wines, and worth the introduction to your customers who like pure, soulful, expressive wines from a truly unique terroir!"