Etna Rosso, San Lorenzo, 2018
San Lorenzo is a vineyard of 70 years old planted at 750 altitude on quite deep volcanic ash interspersed, sporadically, with stones. The terroir is based on very old “Ellitico” soils , dating back to between 15,000 and 60,000 years ago, these are rare and only two crus on Etna are purely composed of it- San Lorenzo and Calderara. San Lorenzo produces tactile, suave wines; incredibly voluptuous rich soft fruit with a velvety tannic structure cloaks the palate. Ageing is 18 months in used oak barriques and tonneaux.
critic reviews
As the 2018 Etna Rosso San Lorenzo blows off a bit of youthful reduction, an inviting bouquet forms, mixing violets and roses with hints of white pepper and dusty strawberry. This is seamlessly soft and polished with medium weight, ushering in floral-tinged red and hints of blue fruit which give way to sweet herbal notes. Residual acids keep the expression remarkably fresh even as youthful tannins saturate deeply, leaving bitter notes of cranberry and cherry pits to linger. The 2018 San Lorenzo has the feel of a sleeping giant, requiring a few years of cellaring to truly awaken.