Etna and Alto Adige masterclass in London

Thank you Catherine and Federica

Christine Marsigliano, a Master of Wine from Canada in love with Italy provided us with a surprising match of Italian wines from two extremely different regions: Alto Adige (Südtirol, South Tyrol) and Sicily, specifically the Etna wine making region. The UK Sommelier Association led by Andrea Rinaldi and Federica Zanghirella organized this event that wraps up the season for 2025.

Alto Adige

Most wine From AA are produced by cooperatives, some 70%. In the past, cooperative wine was synonymous with cheap and, at most, sometimes, cheerful. Hardly ever high quality. How times have changed. In AA coops were first introduced in 1893, when the region was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and today there are 12 of them to carry the tradition forward.

AA outputs 40m bottles per year, of which some 600k are sparkling wines. This is the result of 2500 years of wine making history, begun even before the Romans expanded and organized production much as they did all over Italy and, indeed, Europe. 96% of wines are doc (Alto Adige denomination) while about 100 sport the "unità geografica aggiuntiva" to indicate specific subregions.

Next to the coops are 32 private estates thrive in their own boutique way and 4800 wine growers provide the raw materials.

AA production makes up less than 1% of Italian wine, so a small amount even if Italy is, on and off, the largest producer of wine in the world. Only 5850 hectares, located between 200 and 1000 meters above sea level specialize in just 20 varieties.

The Habsburg brought foreign varieties like chardonnay and pinot noir, and today 65% of the resulting wine is white while 355 is red. I was surprised to hear that it used to be the other way around when lots of schiava was planted for Austrian and German markets.

Here are my tasting notes:

1. Pinot Grigio Nals Magreid 2024

Floral, zesty, good balance, moderate length. 14% abv! 

Score 90

2. Sauvignon (not specify... blanc) Porphyr & Kalk, Ignaz Niedrist 2023

Intense aromatic nose, fresh, almond. 

Score 88

3. Gewurztraminer Joseph, Hofstadter 2024

Very intense aromas, pineapple, vanilla, ripe fruit gives good smoothness, glycerin very present. Salty spicy. Very long. Can probably age well. 

Score 91

4. Pinot nero riserva St Daniel Cantina Colterenzio 2022

300 members in Coop 

Ripe cherries, smoky almost. Can feel a bit of alcohol 

Score 88

5. StMagdalener classico Vigna Premstellerhof by Hans Rottensteiner 2024

StMag is mostly schiava with some Lagrein check 

Ripe red fruit, good balance. 

Score 89

6. Cabernet Sauvignon riserva Freienfeld, 2018 cantina Kurtatsch

Black fruit, intense nose. Rough tannins despite age. Needs several more years of aging in bottle. 

Score 86

ETNA 

Planted on east north and south, lava tends to flow mostly to the west. Consorzio Etna started in 1994 but there is a long history before that.

It is recorded that in 1848, well before Italy was created as a unitary state, 26,000 hectares were planted in the Etna region and by the 1880s Catania, the local provincial capital, boasted as many as 90,000 hectares of vineyards, more than any other in Sicily.

Fast forward to 1968 and Etna DOC is one of the first controlled origin denominations established in Italy, and the first in Sicily and it now comprises 1350 hectares divided among 474 producers, about half of 1% of all Italian vineyards.

Etna bianco makes up just over 40% of wine production, rosso is just over half and the rest is rosato and sparkling, for a total of some 6 million bottles per year.

Here are my tasting notes:

7. Bianco Lavico Duca di Salaparuta 2024 

Carricante 100%

White flowers, Balanced and moderately long. 

Score 88

8. Bianco Tifeo Gambino 2023

Carricante 70% Catarratto 30%

Similar to n. 7, smooth. 

Score 88

9. Bianco superiore Contrada Rinazzo Benanti 2023 

Carricante 100%

Perfect balance, mineral, moderate complexity and length. 

Score 90.

10. Rosso Andico Zumbo 2020 

Nerello mascalese 100%

Easy, rough corners need to be smoothened out. 

Score 85

11. Rosso 2019 Fischetti Muscanento 

Nerello mascalese e cappuccio 

A bit rough, aggressive. 

Score 86

12. Rosso tenute San Michele, Murgo 2020 

Nerello mascalese 100%

Smoother more balanced than previous wines. Moderate length and complexity. 

Score 87

Madeira Wine Tasting in London

Another great Madeira tasting in London organized by Westbury Communications in cooperation with the Madeira wine institute, the entity which certifies wines and producers on the island. 

I had already written about a previous Madeira event by Westbury here on this blog.

Tiago Freitas president of MWI gave us a short introduction to the current state of affairs of Madeira wine.  Demetri Walters, MW, a well known expert on the London wine scene, delivered two masterclasses.

I have written on this blog about Madeira and would refer the reader to my post for information about the history and cultural background of the island and its wine.

I have also recorded a presentation that I usually deliver when working as a guest speaker on cruise ships.

MASTERCLASS ONE

1. D'Oliveiras 3yo sweet 

Fruity, easy

Score 88

2. Barbeito rainwater medium dry

Slight bitterness, fresh.

80% TN 20 verdelho 

Score 87

3. Blandy's 10yo Sercial 

Very fresh, dry. Citrus and almonds. 

Score 88

4. Henriques & Henriques boal 10yo 

Complex long honey 

Score 90

Fig highball with coconut 

Madeira, coconut cream 

Smoky Madeirarita 

Fresh, smoky 

5.borges 5yo medium dry 

Fresh easy 

Score 85

6. Justino fine medium dry reserve 5yo

Balanced and long, caramel 

MASTERCLASS TWO 

Terroir Tradition and Elegance 

Banana leaves between staves to make them watertight 

1. Justino TN colheita 2010 

Known for blending.

Good balance, medium sweet 

Score 89

2. HM Borges TN 1998 frasqueira 

Medium dry style 

Bottled in 2024 

Fresh, nutty 

Score 90

3. Blandy's verdelho Colheita 2011

Bottled in 2024

Balanced and complex. Nutty, marmalade. 

Score 89

4. H&H boal 2000

Perfect balance, long and complex. Fruit cake, ripe apricot. 

Score 93

5. D'Oliveiras malvasia frasqueira 2000

Prunes, dry fruit, caramel. 

Remarkable acidity, starts sweet and ends fully dry. 

Score 94

6. Barbeito Sercial 1994 frasqueira 

Fresh, toasted notes 

Score 90

Amarone masterclass in London

Another year and another great Amarone day organized by the UK Sommelier Association, after the previous editions which I reviewed here for 2022 and here for 2024 . Thank you to Andrea Rinaldi and Federica Zanghirella for the opportunity to attend, and especially to benefit from a select tasting during a masterclass led by the every faithful Peter McCombie, an old hand at Amarone.

For a general discussion of Amarone winemaking, terroir and some facts and figures I'd like to refer to the two posts linked above.

Just a quick update: the more recent figures show that Corvina, the main grape, uses up to 56% of the vines devoted to Amarone, Rondinella 19%, 

Corvinone 17%. A bit is left for Molinara. Amarone has to be made with minimum 90% corvina. Training by the 2200 growers is mostly pergola. In 2024 some 50% of all production was recioto, 25% each for Valpolicella and amarone. Just as a quick reminder, amarone is the product of appassimento, dry on "arele", which are racks in a protected environment, and lose up to 50% of weight, while it is almost never botrytis. This increases glycerin, concentrates polyphenols, sugar. 

Here are my tasting notes for this year.

1. Bottega docg 2021

Fruity, tannins need some rounding in the bottle, some sugar becomes evident in aftertaste.

Score 86

2. Contrada Palui docg 2020

Moderate intensity and structure, alcohol is felt over glycerin. Maybe help could come from decanting. 

Score 87

3. Tenuta Santa Maria di Gaetano Bertani docg classico riserva 2019

Intense, balanced and moderately complex and long. 

Score 90

4. Corte Saibante docg classico 2017 

Very well balanced, smooth, mod complex and long. 

Score 91

5. Gerardo Cesari Spa, docg classico riserva "Bosan" 2016

Mod intensity, perfect balance, long. 

Score 90

6. Falezze di Luca Anselmi docg riserva 2016 

Structure is strong and balanced, tannins still there, could use a few more years or some decanting. 

Score 92

7. Clementi docg classico 2015

Intense, perfect balance, complex and long. A harmonious wine. 

Score 96

8. Vigneti Villabella docg classico riserva "Fracastoro" 2013 

Plump fruity full bodies, balance with a smooth ending and a hint of sugar. 

Ready to drink now. 

Score 95