A home run for the inaugural vintage (2017) of the Benanti (Viagrande, Mt. Etna) Etna Rosato

My strategy at this year's edition of Contrada dell'Etna was to drink only the Carricante-based white wines of Etna's South-East Region in order to imprint the characteristic of that wine on my senses. And everything was going according to plan until I got to the Benanti tent where Antonio -- one half of the dynamic-Benanti-brothers duo -- asked me to taste their brand new Rosé. Antonio is such a wonderfully pleasant young man that it is impossible to say no to him. So I agreed. And was blown away.

Antonio Benanti (r) and the author at 2018 Contrada dell'Etna
with the bottle of Rosato that I took home to evaluate further.
Photo credit: Antonio Benanti

The wine, according to Antonio, was the brainchild of his brother Salvino and its genesis was like pulling teeth because its introduction would put them in the position of being followers -- rather than their accustomed position of being leaders. But they went ahead and the product was well received at Vinitaly. I reached out to Antonio to gain the additional information required to write a review of the product. He gave me a bottle of the wine to facilitate that evaluation.

Before getting into this specific wine, a reprise of the Benanti Estate.

The Benanti Estate

The Benanti estate was founded in 1988 by Guiseppe Benanti, a Catania businessman who had conducted an extensive study of the soils of Mt. Etna with an eye to re-invigorating its moribund wine industry. The estate's initial vintage -- 1991 -- yielded 20,000 bottles, a figure that has grown to 130,000 annually (Etna Wine Lab). According to Nesto and di Savino, Salvo Foti, a man who brought with him "... a love of the mountain and a respect for the Etna culture of family production" was Benanti's "pioneering enologist" until 2011. The estate sources grapes from all of the major slopes (see figure below).

Sources: Underlying map -- Wikipedia;

data -- cantinabenanti.it

The Etna Rosato 2017
The Vintage
According to information secured from Brandon Tokash:

In Milo (one of the main South-East Villages), it rained for 59 of the 72 days between November and January with some light sporadic rain between February and April. After that there was no significant rainfall until a few days in July then it was dry again until early October when it rained for about 10 days. Some difficult choices for the growers  to either pick before the rain with concentrated sugar or take a chance not knowing when the rain would end, if it would end.

The Wine
I secured the particulars behind this wine in an email interview with Antonio Benanti. The wine is 100% Nerello Mascalese made with grapes sourced from Contrade Demone located in Viagrande on the South-East slope of the mountain.

According to Antonio, the wine was Salvino's idea (Salvino said it was Antonio's) because "he loves Rosé and felt strongly about us having our own." Antonio was hesitant because of the unaccustomed position in which this offering would place them but eventually relented. "... we then realized that what counted the most was to produce an outstanding wine that would immediately stand out in the crowded arena of Etna Rosato and become important in our portfolio so we went for it because we were confident about our in-house skills."

Grapes for the wine were harvested (manually) in the fourth week of September in order to have a lower sugar  and alcohol content. The grapes were de-stemmed and crushed and placed into stainless steel tanks for an hours-long cold maceration after which they were soft-pressed for around 3 hours in a horizontal pneumatic press. The free-run juice was fermented and remained on the lees for 2 months. Bottling occurred in March.


The Taste
As mentioned, I had initially tasted the wine at Contrada and took a bottle home for further analysis. In Orlando, I took the bottle to lunch at a small Thai restaurant and evaluated it both as a standalone drink and as a food wine.

The wine had a faded strawberry color, eschewing the Salmon color of the Provence Rosés and the intense colors of Tavel wines.

The initial nose showed intense strawberry, richness, and a minerality which increased in intensity with residence in the glass.

Bright acidity, strawberry, and chalky minerality. Fully engages the palate. Early picking shows through both in flavor-restraint and mouth-puckering acidity. Long, drying, mineral finish.

As time passed hints of bitterness showed up on the finish followed by a tamarind flavor and now-evident salinity. The wine then settles down into an austere phase: tamarind, salinity, and drying minerality.

This is an excellent food wine; especially with spicy foods. It banished all hints of spiciness from the palate with each sip taken.

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Of the Rosato's I have tasted on the mountain, I have been most impressed by Salvo Foti's Vindulice (2500 btls), Barone de Villagrande's Rosato (3000 btls), and Pietradolce's Rosato (9 - 10,000 btls). These wines each have their own unique look and feel and varietal composition but are similar in that they all give an exquisite sense of pleasure on the nose and palate. The Benanti Etna Rosato 2017 immediately vaults into this company with its initial vintage.

The wine was initially tasted at the estate with a number of importers and, according to Antonio, "there was immediately a very positive consensus." The wine was officially presented at Vinitaly 2018 and the vast majority of people that tasted it were impressed. The wine was also very well received at 2018 Contrada dell'Etna.

The wine will officially launch to the market on the week beginning May 7th with the 7,000 bottles available for this vintage. It is expected that 14,000 bottles will be available for the 2018 vintage.


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