Monte Ilice is an old side crater on the south flank at an altitude of 800m and this is where Sonia harvests her red Calmarossa from 85% Nerello Mascalese and 15% Nerello Capuccio. The very old vines, mostly pre-phylloxera, are cultivated b-dynamically. The harvest is done manually, the grapes are destemmed and fermented at a temperature of 26°C. The dripping wine then flows into another tank for a malo at 18°C. Press wine is not used. After the malo, the wine then goes for a minimum of 9 months in French oak barrels. After bottling, it matures for a few months in the bottle before release. With a powerful bouquet of roses, cherry and raspberry and spicy notes, it is an aromatic, refined, full-bodied wine with very nice tannins and a particularly long finish. Only 2000 numbered bottles of this top wine are produced every year!
Ian d’Agatha (Vinous): “Good saturated red. Ripe, complex, pungent nose combines raspberry, red cherry and tobacco with hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Dense and juicy in the mouth, with compelling inner-mouth perfume and lightness of being, while leaving an impression of opulence and seamlessness. Finishes with big but fine tannins and a lingering hint of stoniness. An 85%-15% blend of Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio grown at roughly 800 meters above sea level on the Etna’s south-eastern slope, aged nine months in French oak barrels.” 94/100
De 2015 kwam in de top 100 van International Wine Report uit op plaats 19 met een score van maar liefst 97/100!
