Etna Rosso 'Moganazzi'

Score

91

"This has a rather shy nose that eventually reveals whiffs of botanical herb, cedar and underbrush. Racy and rather lean, the focused palate shows dried cherry, coffee bean and clove alongside bright acidity. Close-grained tannins leave a drying finish."

Score

95

"Complex aromas of ripe berries with toffee, cedar and some floral undertones. Hot ash as well. The palate is full-bodied, but tight and linear with a chewy palate and lots of dried-peach and orange-peel undertones to the ripe fruit, but always linear and focused. Try after 2022."

Score

92+

"Bright red-ruby. Clean, very mineral and floral, with juicy red/black cherry aromas and flavors. A refined, mineral wine that is very well balanced and precise. This clocks in at 14.5% alcohol, but doesn’t taste warm at all. In fact, I like this wine’s austere, mineral-tinged, long finish. Will likely improve in the bottle."

Score

92

"Marco de Grazia first bought a tiny plot of vines in the Moganazzi contrade in 2007, dedicating its production to a charity project. He’s since expanded his holdings to nearly five acres, and this is the first release of some 3,000 bottles under the new label. A steeply terraced site with deep volcanic ash soils anchoring 80-year-old vines, Moganazzi produced a wine that feels more earthbound than some of Terre Nere’s more ethereal wines in the warm, dry 2017 growing season. With dense black-rock tannins and ripe and fleshy plum and black raspberry flavors, this ought to benefit from a year or two of cellaring before pairing with braised lamb shanks."