Frank Cornelissen, "Munjebel CR" 2017

In Frank's own words, "This pure Nerello Mascalese comes from a partly ungrafted vineyard Campo Re, situated at the far Western side in the valley floor, at the entrance of Randazzo." This particular combination of climate and vineyard factors contribute to a big, Barolo-esque expression of Nerello Mascalese.

Frank Cornelissen's famous 19-hectare Etna estate sits along the Northern Valley of the volcano.

Vinification: 100% Nerello Mascalese from a single vineyard site, Contrada Campo Re. The grapes are hand-harvested from 70+ year-old vines that are grown in the highly-sought after volcanic soils of Etna amidst a maritime climate though at this vineyard site the soil is primarily characterized by its depth and difficulty. The grapes are destemmed and lightly crushed before spontaneous fermentation is kickstarted by native yeasts and pied de cuve, continuing for 60 days in contact with the skins inside of epoxy tanks. The wine is then shortly aged in neutral epoxy tanks and bottled unfined and unfiltered with a 5 micron cartridge addition of SO2 (mg/L range from 5-30).