The Tenute di Nuna wines were the last served in the ViniMilo 2025 Masterclass on Etna white-wine identity held at Azienda Agricola Iuppa. The wines on offer were from the 2022 and 2015 vintages and were the only non-superiore wines included in the night's lineup.
I visited this estate last year and noted that 5 ha of its property are located in Sant'Alfio and 1 ha in Milo. At the time I stated thusly about the estate:
Tenute di Nuna is a small, young entity that is led by an enterprising couple who have strung together the pieces of a puzzle to make quality wine while building towards a more integrated, comprehensive outcome. They focused initially on property acquisition and development and then utilized available resources (outsourced production, local oenologist, in-house agronomic expertise, non-estate base wines) to develop quality products. This resourcefulness will be further manifested in the estate and its products with the passage of time.
The Milo plot was purchased in 2017. This means that the estate did not have the capability of producing Etna Biamco Superiore wines prior to that time except if they used purchased grapes. The likelihood, then, is that both of the wines offered for the tasting were made with grapes sourced from the Sant'Alfio parcel.
The Wines
As stated previously, the wines tasted were the 2022 and 2015 Etna Biancos.
Brandon's notes for the 2022 growing season are as follows:
2022 — This was a hot, dry summer, hotter than normal especially at night. I thought that the Carricante was bigger, perhaps rounder with less tension and acid. Not my favorite year.
I was unable to find any east-side-specific vintage notes for 2015.
The 2022 wine showed salinity and mint on the nose. Lime, burnt citrus skin, and mineral persistence on the palate. Long gooseberry finish.
The 2015 showed mint on the nose along with a hint of sulfur, and wet stones on the nose. Sweet fruit, lime, faded lime skin, and sapidity on the palate. Long finish. Well balanced wine.
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The 2015 was the more elegant and balanced of the two wines. It is not clear that the 2022 will attain the level of the 2015 quality because of the old adage that if you want to get to an older balanced wine you have to start out with a new balanced wine. I am not in a position to saw how the growing season played into the 2015s quality because I was unable to find vintage notes for that year.
©Wine -- Mise en abyme
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