TN: two Terre Nere's

M

MarkS

Mark Svereika
After drinking a Calderara Sottana from 2004 that showed poorly (old, stewy, and oaky), I thought to pop others from 2004 to make sure they were okay.

Terre Nere, Etna Rosso, 'Guardiola', 2004
Bright cherry red colored. Dense and heavy nose that takes time to sort out. At first it almost seems mildly corked, but false alarm, after watermelon rind and grapeskin pomice show through. There's a touch of VA, pretty dense with better fruit than the Calderara Sottana, pretty obvious wood on the finish. Think I would opt to drink this now or soon instead of keeping. B+/A-

Terre Nere, Etna Rosso, 'Feudo di Mezzo', 2004
Color shows darker than most nerello-based wines. Dark plums and mace spice on the nose. Sweet, somewhat skunky cherry fruit and bark, very pretty yet in a masculine undercurrent. Better than either the Calderara Sottana or Guardiola from the same year, sharing the watermelon rind of the latter but with a better acid structure, and showing sweet stewed plums, cherry compote, and Christmas pudding. Drinking very well at present. 14% A-

If anybody has any experience aging these, chime in. In my limited experience with the nerello-based wines (speaking here mostly of Etna Rosso & Faro for appelations, with the exception of Passopisciaro which uses the Sicilia designation), these probably could be aged longer, but for my tastes show best at around 4-5 years after release. With the exception of Palari, many of these haven't been around here long enough to determine ageability yet. I like them when they show the fresh mountain fruit but without the stewed dimensions they seem to take on with time.YMMV.
 
For a lot of observers at the time, 2004 was the breakout year for Terre Nere. It may have been the first year fermented in cement. I'd have to double check that.

My experience is that the 2003s were starting to crack up and not showing well awhile ago. 2005s were ok, maybe a little blocky. 2006 were very restrained and held in, and the Don Peppino was very reductive. 2007 was supple and fine grained and ready to drink from the get go. 2004, well, I've been trying to see if I posted a specific note here, but I am not finding one. Which is too bad. One would expect the Guardiola to be the longer ager, and the Calderara Sottana would be the one that is supposed to be drunk up younger.

I think, honestly, that Terre Nere is still finding its way, as are many producers of Etna Rosso. I think the 4-5 year number you quote is perfectly resonable. I found that I said back in 2008 that just because it tastes like Pinot Noir doesn't mean you should age Nerello like Burgundy. It oxidizes fairly quickly, and some producers would seem to be using partial carbonic as well. If there were a producer that I would think, well, maybe they are making a 100% Nerello that could go a bit longer than some of the others, it would be Benanti. I remember the 2001 Benanti Nerello Mascalese being pretty tasty about 3 or so years ago.

When you bring up Faro, though, I think there you have Calabrese in the blend (which is Nero d'Avola) and that is a different ball game. I've drunk 9 year old Palari. It can be delicious at that age, in fact.
 
Interesting. I still have a bunch of the Guardiola left. I have to say, if this is the most age they can handle then I'm not sure I can think of a place for them. The 2004 Guardiola was quite ferociously tannic on release - more like Barolo than Burgundy, and frankly too tannic to be very enjoyable: it's not feasible to have a fatty hunk of dinosaur meat to chew on through the entirety of the bottle... If the wine falls apart long before the tannin can resolve, you're left with a wine that's not all that drinkable at any point in its lifespan. Maybe they need to make these in a way that minimizes extraction so you can drink them young.
 
Keith,
Although I might not say it quite as forcefully, the Guardiola was pretty tannic on release; too much so for me, so I concentrated on the Calderara Sottana and very much enjoyed it for several years.
Have you ever tried the Benanti wines that Levi mentioned? I have not seen them but now my interested is peaked.
Best, Jim
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Interesting. I still have a bunch of the Guardiola left. I have to say, if this is the most age they can handle then I'm not sure I can think of a place for them. The 2004 Guardiola was quite ferociously tannic on release - more like Barolo than Burgundy, and frankly too tannic to be very enjoyable: it's not feasible to have a fatty hunk of dinosaur meat to chew on through the entirety of the bottle... If the wine falls apart long before the tannin can resolve, you're left with a wine that's not all that drinkable at any point in its lifespan. Maybe they need to make these in a way that minimizes extraction so you can drink them young.
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Well, I think that is what happened in 2007. The wines were very drinkable young. No dinosaur meat required. But even in the context of that vintage, the Guardiola of Terre Nere (as opposed to other people's Guardiola) was the more held back of the bottlings. I believe that the Calderara Sottana is intended to be drunk first, as you wait for the others to come around.

This is an evolving project, and a new one. What was true of the releases from several years ago isn't necessarily true of the current releases. I think they are finding their way.
 
Oh the Benanti wines can age quite well. We had a tasting with Giuseppe Benanti in Nov. The '95 Rovittello was the oldest wine that day and was wonderful, though it's not 100% NM. But it was the 2001 Pietramarina (100% Carricante) that held the most intrigue that day. Really lovely stuff from this AV.
 
originally posted by Gregg G:
Oh the Benanti wines can age quite well. But it was the 2001 Pietramarina (100% Carricante) that held the most intrigue that day. Really lovely stuff from this AV.
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I opened one recently. It was in great shape with plenty of life. I thought it might have seen better days, but no it's at a great place now. I have some reds from the early 00s. It's good to hear that their prospects are favorable too.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:

When you bring up Faro, though, I think there you have Calabrese in the blend (which is Nero d'Avola) and that is a different ball game. I've drunk 9 year old Palari. It can be delicious at that age, in fact.
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Palari seems to have some Nero d'Avola, but another difference between Etna and Faro is up to 10% Nocera, which is said to be quite tart, perhaps accounting for the freshness of Faro (given that it's grown at much lower altitude than Etna Rosso). I've only had two different Faros, though.
 
Well, I liberated a bottle of 2004 Guardiola from storage last night and opened it with a baked ziti. After this thread and others I was surprised to see it in such good shape, although I understand the disappointment with how it's developed. The promise when this wine was young was that it would become a showcase for that rocky, volcanic mineral element, which seemed to lurk somewhere under all that tannin, but that's not a factor anymore. The good news is that the tannin has really relaxed its grip and while it still seems a little edgy at first it seems to melt away as the bottle warms to room temperature. The flavors are definitely advanced for a wine just 6 years or so in the cellar but not in the category of oxidized or falling apart, in fact it feels very solid even though the fruit has mellowed and started to brick, it just has a leathery quality to it that usually connotes something older.
 
Nerello is an odd grape - the fruit is so fragile-tasting, even in youth, and the tannins can be so ferocious, that I'm not sure what to make of the wines. It's as if one's glazing stoneware with a watercolour - there's a brilliant moment when you think you see it coming together, then the colour doesn't hold and you're left with a brittle shell.

Do try Benanti's wines, they're worth the search. I had mine in Piedmont.
 
originally posted by Yule Kim:
Slightly off topic, but Benanti's Pietramarina is seriously delicious.
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When it's not oxidized.
Although I understand they are using more SO2 of late.
 
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