Salvo Foti I Vignieri Rosso 2024

A blend of 90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Nerello Cappuccio, made about as old-school as wine gets.
The grapes are foot-trodden, stems and all, before eight days on skins and a spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts.  Then it heads underground for six months in terracotta amphorae, no oak, no temperature control, no unnecessary mucking around. 

Smoky black cherry, raspberry and wild berries lead the charge, with dried rose, lavender and that unmistakable dusty volcanic edge.  The palate is juicy but beautifully crunchy, with brisk acidity, fine edgy tannins and loads of stony mineral character.  There’s proper depth here, but it never feels heavy, more energetic, savoury and ridiculously refreshing.

A wonderfully honest, slightly wild expression of Nerello that feels like it could only have come from the slopes of Etna.