“Guardiola” Rosso Etna DOC 2024

Tenuta delle Terre Nere | Sicily
Az. Agr. Tenuta delle Terre Nere | Contrada Calderara | IT 95036 Randazzo

19172524 · 0,75 l · 69,33 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately
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The place where it all began in 2002. The first vintage of Tenuta delle Terre Nere did not come from just any plot. It came from the Guardiola: the estate's highest vineyard, the most challenging, and the oldest. For the first Etna wine of his career, Marco de Grazia chose the toughest start he could find. And he gave it two further firsts: the first time an Etna Rosso bore the Contrada name on the label. And the first time it was bottled in a Burgundy-style bottle. The Contrada Guardiola lies at an altitude of 900 to 1,000 metres – right on the very edge of the Etna DOC. No grapes grow any higher up. The soils are poor: sand, volcanic pumice, basalt scree – the bare minimum a vine needs. The terraces become narrower with increasing altitude; vineyard work there is carried out exclusively by hand and is exceptionally difficult. The vines have stood on this soil for over a hundred years – on their own roots, ungrafted, because phylloxera never reached these high altitudes on Mount Etna. Pre-phylloxera. Alive.

De Grazia describes the Guardiola as the estate's most reserved and challenging wine, and as "sometimes unbalanced in its youth". And yet: it is his favourite wine. "It must be its intensity, like the tension of a coiled spring. Or its uncompromising purity. Or its austere, rigorous minerality." Hand-harvested in the third week of October. 14 months in French oak barriques and tonneaux, 20% new oak. Fewer than 5,000 bottles.

A bright ruby red with orange highlights. The bouquet is complex and balsamic – Mediterranean herbs, minerality, and dark fruit in the background. On the palate, it has an elegant structure and a pronounced balance of acidity and tannins, which requires time and rewards it. "The authority and power remain". We agree. SUPERIORE.DE

"The 2024 Etna Rosso Guardiola combines spiced blood orange, sweet dusty rose, sour cherry and mint. This reveals weighty textures of pure silk alongside elegant red and blue fruits that envelop the senses. Gripping tannins saturate the palate as the 2024 tapers off long, revealing vividly fresh blackberry tones. This is a more giving vintage of Guardiola, but it's well structured for cellaring." Vinous

"Aromas of dried strawberries, plums and peppermint give way to a medium-bodied palate with flavours of ripe strawberries and cherries, as well as a hint of cedar and coffee. There is also a hint of pencil. Juicy tannins and a spicy finish." James Suckling

"The Tenuta delle Terre Nere 2024 Etna Rosso Guardiola comes from volcanic sand mixed with basalt pebbles in one of the estate's coolest, steepest and most dramatically terraced vineyards, with a Madonna watching over the site from above. This was the first parcel Marco de Grazia purchased, some 26 years ago, after its former owner conceded that he could no longer work it. For de Grazia, it was love at first sight. His fascination with Etna had begun after tasting Benanti wines in Florence, prompting him to sail down from Tuscany and explore the volcano by car. He presented the first Tenuta delle Terre Nere wines at Vinitaly in 2002, and the brand quickly took off. 

Guardiola remains something of a mystery. It has historically produced difficult, edgy and gnarly wines, but de Grazia recalls that the site seemed to bloom and relax in 2018, revealing high soprano notes and beautifully juicy tannins. He compares Guardiola to Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses, a premier cru that seems to touch something close to grand cru status. The 2024 is gorgeous, initially showing richness, sensuality and softer, fuller tannins. The fruit folds over the structure, making the wine feel complete. However, when I returned to it at the end of the tasting, its relative leanness became clearer. It does not have the same richness or weight as the wines poured later in the portfolio. Guardiola remains the 'leanest and meanest' of the group, shaped by its cool climate, high elevation and exposed terraces." Wine Advocate