Pietradolce Archineri Etna Bianco 2017
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with seafood and grilled, fresh fish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Quite a subtle Etna white, and all the more appealing because of that. The nose suggest white stones, blossoms, lime and freshly squeezed lemons. The palate shows real focus and intensity, which isn’t that common in 2017. Medium to full body, bright acidity and a medium-long finish. 100% carricante. Drink now.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of Mediterranean brush, yellow apple, crushed rock and juicy citrus flow over to the bright savory palate along with pear and savory mineral notes. Bright acidity imparts a refreshing finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Etna Bianco Archineri shows a mild and subtle bouquet with distant tones of crushed mineral followed by dried citrus, white apricot and dried sage. That subtle personality grows with time, and the wine needs a little extra time to open. It goes from citrus and grapefruit to crushed stone, yellow rose and honeysuckle. The finish is lean but zesty and crisp. Old vines are used to make this wine, some as old as 130 years old. Only 3,000 bottles were produced.
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Wine & Spirits
In 2005, Michele Faro established Pietradolce near Castiglione di Sicilia on Mount Etna’s northern slope. He and his team farm 27 acres of native Etna varieties, including a plot of ungrafted, alberello-trained carricante at 2,788 feet up Etna’s eastern slope. Winemaker Carlo Ferrini soft-presses the grapes and vinifies the wine in stainless steel, spotlighting carricante’s zesty lemon flavors and saline minerality. Tensile acidity keeps the wine tightly wound; it will benefit from another year in bottle, but there’s plenty of potential here.
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At the heart of their philosophy lies a deep love and respect for the land on which we depend, getting the best from traditional methods while using with wisdom the latest developments in grape growing and wine making without compromising the environment that gives life to their passion.
Carricante has grown on the slopes of Sicily’s Mt. Etna for the last thousand years. It is the dominant grape in Etna Bianco DOC blends, with Catarratto as a possible minor blending partner. The best examples come from volcanic soils at higher altitudes where a large diurnal temperature shift allows slow and steady ripening and the development of Carricante’s naturally high acidity. Somm Secret—A vine variety capable of high yields if not tended to properly, Carricante gets its name from, carica, the Italian word for “load.”
A large, geographically and climatically diverse island, just off the toe of Italy, Sicily has long been recognized for its fortified Marsala wines. But it is also a wonderful source of diverse, high quality red and white wines. Steadily increasing in popularity over the past few decades, Italy’s fourth largest wine-producing region is finally receiving the accolades it deserves and shining in today's global market.
Though most think of the climate here as simply hot and dry, variations on this sun-drenched island range from cool Mediterranean along the coastlines to more extreme in its inland zones. Of particular note are the various microclimates of Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, where vineyards grow on drastically steep hillsides and varying aspects to the Ionian Sea. The more noteworthy red and white Sicilian wines that come from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna include Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (reds) and Carricante (whites). All share a racy streak of minerality and, at their best, bear resemblance to their respective red and white Burgundies.
Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted red variety, and is great either as single varietal bottling or in blends with other indigenous varieties or even with international ones. For example, Nero d'Avola is blended with the lighter and floral, Frappato grape, to create the elegant, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, one of the more traditional and respected Sicilian wines of the island.
Grillo and Inzolia, the grapes of Marsala, are also used to produce aromatic, crisp dry Sicilian white. Pantelleria, a subtropical island belonging to the province of Sicily, specializes in Moscato di Pantelleria, made from the variety locally known as Zibibbo.