“Il Musmeci Prefillossera” Rosso Etna DOC 2024

Tenuta di Fessina | Sicily
Tenuta di Fessina s.a. a.r.l. | Via Nazionale SS 120 22 | IT 95012 Castiglione di Sicilia

19192124 · 0,75 l · 46,67 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately
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The estate has dedicated its single-vineyard wine made from Nerello Mascalese to the Musmeci family, particularly Ignazio Musmeci, who tended the vines at Rovittello for many years. Silvia Maestrelli, who sadly passed away far too young, founded Tenuta di Fessina in 2007, building her business around an old vineyard of this variety, which she acquired after lengthy negotiations with the previous owners. The suffix in the name takes us even further back, to the time before the phylloxera plague that once ravaged Europe's vineyards. Vines from that era are grown on their own roots, without the American rootstock onto which vines have been grafted almost everywhere since then, and are regarded as a mark of quality – and not just on Mount Etna.

Rovittello lies on the north-eastern flank of Mount Etna, at an altitude of between 670 and 700 metres. Two ancient, arc-shaped lava flows encircle the area; there are terraces with dark lava walls, interspersed with hazelnut groves and scattered olive trees. The soil is black and sandy, composed of pumice and fine clays; the winters are cold and often bring snow, whilst autumn remains long and warm, and the nights are noticeably colder than the days. The estate describes this as a slow, complete ripening process. The grapes are harvested in October; the selection process begins in the vineyard and ends on the sorting table, after which the grapes are gently destemmed and crushed; the wine ferments on the skins and is then aged.

Bright ruby. Red fruits that seem to have been steeped in alcohol, accompanied by undergrowth, ash and tar, followed by liquorice and rosemary, with a hint of mint on top. On the palate, a silky, velvety core of tannins, supported by lingering acidity; the finish offers sour cherry and nutmeg, round and long. Refined yet austere. It bears the name of those who tended these vines, and it tastes of vines that have endured for a century. SUPERIORE.DE

"The 2024 Etna Rosso Il Musmeci Prefillossera mixes crushed chalk, white pepper and olive-tinged blackberries to form its dusty bouquet. It's round in feel with fresh acidity and lavender-laced wild berry fruits on the palate. This finishes staining and long yet only gently tannic." Vinous

"An ultra saline nose of fresh herbs, crushed rocks, violets and wild fennel is balanced by a sweet palate of black cherry and milk chocolate. Textured tannins complement lively acid." Wine Enthusiast

"Made entirely from Nerello Mascalese, it is focused and varietally expressive, offering a sharp, clean presentation of small berry fruit, blackcurrant and fresh rose that leans toward violet. The wine is delicate and fragile in the most positive sense, revealing a graceful side of this enormously powerful volcanic site. Distant white pepper emerges as the wine opens in the glass, and tight, chalky tannins frame the finish. What a pleasant surprise. I love this wine. Fruit comes from one hectare of ungrafted alberello vines at 640 meters in elevation on sandy, basalt-rich soils. Fermentation is in stainless steel, followed by 15 months in 3.5-hectoliter oak casks." Wine Advocate