Calabretta Cala Cala Rosso

The Calabretta wines hail from the DOC of Etna Rosso in northeastern Sicily. The grapes here are primarily the indigenous Nerello Mascalese, with a bit Nerello Cappuccio interplanted. Winemaker Massimiliano also has a small vineyard of Pinot Noir, a grape that has been planted on Etna since the 1800's. The vineyards are planted between 300-900 meters on the slopes of Mount Etna, an active volcano that looms in the distance for much of eastern Sicily. The soils are a combination of black volcanic ash and sand which are fine and almost silty, with lots of lava rocks and good drainage. Slow Food’s Slow Wine guide has described Calabretta’s style as “a thousand miles away” from other Italian wine, but the gap might be better measured in time, since the estate seems stuck somewhere in the 19th century. In fact, Calabretta’s most distinguishing feature is its dedication to long aging, which has stayed the same throughout the family’s history as winegrowers. The Etna Rosso ages much like Barolo and Brunello were aged decades ago, in massive (50- 70-hectoliter) neutral Slavonian oak botti for 6 to 7 years. The vineyard practices sound modern but are in fact rooted in the past. They avoid using chemical pesticides or herbicides, and they harvest by hand, starting around the second week of October. Fermentations are carried out exclusively with wild yeasts. Considering such traditional approaches, it’s not surprising that Calabretta’s wines are so reminiscent of the compelling Brunellos from Montalcino’s Soldera, Cerbaiona and Livio Sassetti, or the many great traditional Barolos of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Sicily, Italy

Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio

Native yeast, sustainable, minimal intervention