2020 Tenuta delle Terre Nere 'Calderara Sottana' Etna Rosso Sicily

Winemaker Notes:  100% Nerello Mascalese from 50 to 100-year-old vines on the Northern slope of the Mount Etna. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation and aging in French oak barriques, tonneaux for 16-18 months of wood aging and 1 month in steel. Bottled unfiltered.

Calderara Sottana’s soil is easily recognizable at first sight. Of all the crus of the Etna appellation it is by far the stoniest. So much so, that in the most remarkable examples you cannot see the soil for the stones: fist sized, light weight, black volcanic pumice. The word Calderara is reminiscent of “caldera” or “cauldron”, probably due to the fact that the black rocks hold the day’s heat through part of the night. The terroir in contrada Calderara is originated by lava flows and volcanoclastic deposits related to the effusive and explosive activity of the the Ellittico eruptive center, which dates back from 60,000 to 15,000 years ago. Although very young by geological standards, the soils from the Ellittico eruption are the oldest superficial strata in which one may plant. The reason is simple: millennia of lava flows have buried all older soils, leaving, in fact, only very small and rare parcels of Ellittico soils. On the northern slopes of Etna there are four or five Contrade that have terroir from the Ellittico. Three, however, have mixed soils, blending soil from Ellittico of igneous nature with alluvial soils of sedimentary nature due to the overflowing of the Alcantara river. Only two Contrade out of hundreds and hundreds are “pure” terroir Ellittico: Calderara and San Lorenzo. I wanted to mention this on their labels, so as to facilitate a distinction. The elevation is 600-700 metres. Harvest is sometime in the second to third week of October. Locally the cru has an outstanding reputation. Our Calderara Sottana is a single vineyard wine produced only from vineyards between 50-100 years old. Of all our single vineyard wines it is perhaps the most complete: much like a wide angle lens encompasses the most ample panorama, so Calderara seems to contain and display the widest spectrum of flavors, bouquets, nuances. Floral and spicy, leathery and aromatic, it delivers a wonderful filling sensation on the palate, yet stepping lightly. Don Peppino, whose devotion to Calderara led him to work our vineyards for seventy years, best describes the wines of Calderara: they are “creamy”, he says. And he’s right. 

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

James Suckling - "Aromas of rust, sea urchins, wild thyme, salted plums, Seville oranges, walnuts and asphalt. Very fine, tight-grained tannins. Intense rust and mineral quality, with a medium-bodied, elegant palate. Long and savory. From organically grown grapes. Better after 2023."