The exciting potential of Terre Nere’s Etna rosato amid the Sicilian rosé boom

Marco de Grazia came to Etna in 1999 with the aim to make terroir-driven wines on the Sicilian volcano. Already well-known as one of the most important distributors of Italian wine in the United States, he was also one of the leading figures of the Barolo Boys, who revolutionised winemaking in Piedmont in the 1980s and 1990s, introducing modern winemaking and an international aesthetic.

Today, he grows grapes on approximately 45 hectares of vineyards between 400 and 1,000 metres above sea level. Some of the vines are over 100 years old, dating back to before the coming of phylloxera.

An exclusive opportunity to taste 13 vintages of De Grazia’s Etna rosato from his Sicilian winery, Tenuta delle Terre Nere – seated on the northern slope of Etna, close to the town of Randazzo in Contrada Calderara – was impossible to refuse, and so I made a journey to the volcano this May.

Scroll down to see notes and scores from this Etna rosato vertical

The birth of Terre Nere’s rosato

‘My rosé production started by chance. My daughter, who was two years old in 2007, went around in the cellar saying, “And me? Pink, pink, pink!” I had already painted the cellar in her favourite colour but I had 5,000 kilos of Nerello Mascalese that I did not know what to do with and thought, why not make a rosé for her?’ he explains with a laugh.

From 4,000 bottles in its first vintage, 2007, production today is is around 40,000 bottles a year. Rosé production on Etna in general has also increased significantly, from 264 hectolitres in 2012 to 2,581hl in 2019, accounting for 8% of the total DOC production (2019).

‘The rosé trend exploded in 2018. Before that, there was no interest except for a chef in Taormina who bought it. Today, it is a bestseller, even in Provence – a great satisfaction for us,’, De Grazia tells me.

The process

The grapes for the rosato are selected from different vineyards every year, depending on the vintage, but it is only made with Nerello Mascalese. ‘We avoid the Nerello Cappuccio because it gives too much colour,’ says De Grazia. The grapes are picked earlier than for the reds, to retain freshness and avoid too much alcohol.

‘We make between two and five batches of grapes picked at different moments and let them ferment in separate tanks. We destem the grapes for the rosé as the last ones in the evening, and we leave the skins in contact with the must during the night before we rack. We don’t look for a particular colour; it is what it is,’ he explains.

Depending on the vintage, De Grazia decides how to blend the different batches. In cool vintages, he might let one of the batches go through malolactic fermentation for a smoother mouthfeel, while in hot vintages, when the grapes tend to release colour and tannins faster, the skin contact is shorter.

‘My ideal rosé is a wine that has the freshness and spring-like quality of a white wine, the substance of a red wine, and this delicate balance depends on the vintage.’

Potential and versatility

Tenuta delle Terre Nere’s rosatos have all of this. They are expressive and nuanced yet also with great ageability as well as drinkability: The 2010 is incredibly complex, with the intensity of a red wine and the dynamic, fresh, and elegant mouthfeel of a white wine – just like De Grazia’s idea of perfection.

‘There is a fashion of making whites and rosés in a reductive style, focusing on primary aromas and that are released quickly, and of course, this immediate fruit is captivating, but they are without depth and will not last. I am not of this school,’ declares Marco, who releases his rosé in April rather than in February like most other producers on Etna.

‘I don’t think there is a reason to age a rosé, but this vertical tasting shows the potential of Etna and how versatile the Nerello Mascalese grape is: you can make sparkling, rosé and red wines – from youthful to ageworthy ones. There are few places in the world like this,’ he concludes.

The latest vintages of Tenuta delle Terre Nere’s rosato are fragrant and elegant but also multilayered and deep. The vintages 2020, 2019, and 2018 are in a phase of evolution that means they could easily be taken for an aged white wine from the volcano, with aromas of flint, hazelnut and saffron, while older vintages have developed the complexity more commonly associated with red wine.

‘My daughter is an adult now. She doesn’t drink much wine, but she loves the aromas of her rosé wine – at least that is something!’ says De Grazia with a big smile.

Tasting 13 vintages of Tenuta delle Terre Nere Rosato:

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