Vino di Anna Qvevri R 2019
- Region
- Italy » Vino
- Type
- red still, dry
- Producer
- Vintage
- 2019
- Grapes
- Nerello Mascalese
- Alcohol
- 12.5
- Volume
- 750 mL
- Cellar
- not available
In 2015, Anna and Eric purchased a small, stunning property in Contrade Rampante, just beneath the Quota Mille road on the north face of Mt Etna. Half the property was 80-100 year old bush vines of Nerello Mascalese, the rest, century old olive trees. After farming the vineyard biodynamically for 4 years, the grapes that were hand harvest in 2019 were particularly distinct, and a decision was made to release the wine created from this vineyard, as an individual cuvee for the first time.
In 2015, Anna and Eric purchased a small, stunning property in Contrade Rampante, just beneath the Quota Mille road on the north face of Mt Etna. Half the property was 80-100 year old bush vines of Nerello Mascalese, the rest, century old olive trees. After farming the vineyard biodynamically for 4 years, the grapes that were hand harvest in 2019 were particularly distinct, and a decision was made to release the wine created from this vineyard, as an individual cuvee for the first time.
Ratings
Incredible finish for the Arianna Occhipinti lineup. It depicts a less clear and more powerful low-intervention style. Lots of spoiled fruits. Luckily, the bottle comes with a healer included, so these fruits are getting better with time. Red, dark - it's a mix of them. Leather, chocolate, tobacco and juniper. Complex, harsh, a bit elevated and persistent. It was fizzy at the beginning (not something I prefer when combined with overall heaviness). As with Don Alfio, I wonder about its development. Would love to taste them in 10 years.
About Producer
There was a time when Sabotage organised Friday parties near Yellow Place, Goodwine. This is where Ivan Omelchenko introduced me to Vino di Anna, and this is where he started to joke that I'd become their brand ambassador. While I don't drink their wines often these days, I still hold a special place for these folks in my heart.
Vino di Anna is a small, family wine estate situated high on the northern slopes of Mount Etna, near the village of Solicchiata. The heart of the domain is in Contrada Crasà, where the winery and family home are located. The rest of the vineyards are situated in different contrade (historic lava flows) from the secluded 100-year-old Don Alfio vineyard in Contrada Piano Filici, above the village of Rovittello, to the renowned Contrada Rampante, above Passopisciaro. The white vineyards are concentrated on the north-western side of the volcano in Contrada Nave, not far from the estate’s Grenache-dominant vineyard in Contrada Tartaraci, near the village of Maletto.
Anna Martens and Eric Narioo made their first wine together on Mount Etna in 2008. In 2010, the couple purchased their first vineyard of old bush vines of Nerello Mascalese in Contrada Crasà, along with a neighbouring, derelict Etnean palmento and wine cellar. Today, with a team of locals, they cultivate organically eight hectares of terraced land, divided into small vineyard plots and olive groves scattered across the north face of the volcano. Grapes are hand-harvested in September and October and fermented into a range of natural wines, expressive of their terroir. The estate also produces extra virgin olive oil and rears the rare Sicilian black bee.
Eric and Anna aim to make wines that are tasty, expressive, true to their provenance, and reflective of the growing season each year. All of the vineyards are tended by hand and farmed without the use of any agrochemicals. Only healthy ripe grapes are harvested by hand and brought to the wine cellar. Here, there is minimal intervention; fermentation is by indigenous yeasts at ambient temperature. No additives are used. Wines are vinified and aged in lava stone, chestnut and French wood, Georgian qvevri, glass, and stainless steel. They are naturally clarified by gravity and are not filtered. Zero or minuscule quantities of SO₂ are added, only when it is deemed necessary for the stability of the wine.
Vino di Anna’s qvevri wines are fermented and macerated in Georgian qvevris, handmade by one of the few remaining artisans, Zaaliko Bodjadze, near Makatubani, Georgia. Zaaliko and his sons source clay from the high Caucasus mountains, shape the vessels by hand, and coat them with beeswax. Eight qvevris were delivered to Vino di Anna in 2013 and were buried in a specially built-underground cellar at the back of the winery.