2016 Frank Cornelissen ‘Contadino’ Etna DOC

Region: Mount Etna < Italy
Grapes: Field blend of Nerello Mascalese (85%) + Nerello Capuccio, Minella Nera, Allicante Bouschet, Minella Bianco
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Certified biodynamic farming, 50+year-old vines, clay/limestone soils, ZERO added SO2, aged in amphora
Winemaker: Frank Cornelissen  

NEW VINTAGE ALERT: We featured the past two vintages of this wine, and were crushed to find out that due to lower production and more demand, our allotment of the 2016 vintage was a single effing case! It has now become wildly sought-after, a frenzy set off last year by rapper dude Action Bronson and his show F*ck, That’s Delicious. If you didn’t try it last time around, here’s the scoop: Frank Cornelissen, Sicily’s eccentric (and some might say extreme) natural winemaker, pays homage to the farmer wines of Etna (contadino is Italian for farmer) with this fragrant and extremely sexy light red. It smells incredible, like wild rose and blood orange juice. A touch wild on entry, this pleasant funk turns to bright, high-toned red fruit on the palate. Neon, vivid and intense, and overflowing with that smoky, spicy, juicy volcanic goodness, you want to drink the whole bottle just to see what happens next. I’m with Action Bronson here – f*ck, that’s delicious! BTW Frank is the man – we visited him on Mt. Etna two summers ago, tasted barrel samples and debated the meaning of “natural” wine. If you didn’t get any this year – SORRY. I’ll try to get more next vintage!