2017 Tenuta di Fessina Erse Etna Rosso DOC Sicily 750 ml

We always pay close attention when our Master Sommelier colleague Sur Lucero gets excited about a wine. But when he texted us from Sicily to tell us he’d been “blown away” by a “gorgeous” wine that “has the purity of Burgundy, the soul of a feminine Sangiovese and the light grip of Nebbiolo,” we urged him to bring back as much as he could. 

This absolute stunner of a wine is a true rarity. Only in Sicily is it possible to find a truly best in class, old-vine, drop-dead gorgeous 93-point wine like this 2017 Tenuta di Fessina Erse Rosso for under $35.

Sure, Sicily’s Mount Etna is known for value wines of charming rusticity, but we’ve never encountered a bottle that really drinks with the ethereal elegance and glorious purity of an $80 Volnay from Burgundy. Opening with fresh aromas of sun-kissed raspberry, blood orange peel, cranberry, tart cherry, and hibiscus, the secondary aromatics feel almost suspended in ascension. With an incredible purity, the minerality soon comes to the fore with impressive dusty lava rock, a sanguine touch of iron atop polished steel, a crack or two of pepper, and white tea. 

As Sur put it when we tasted it together, “It’s impossible to put your finger on any one of these aromatics, but they feel present and all-encompassing.” A hauntingly seductive wine in the truest sense. Structurally intense yet lithe and lifted, the silky tannins will keep this 2017 Tenuta di Fessina Erse vibrant for another five years. Though why wait when it’s drinking so beautifully right now?

When Sur mentioned the wine’s 70-year-old vines grown at 2,296 feet of elevation, we asked him to go back to his notes and double-check. Though it makes the price that much more head-scratching, that provenance explains the focused purity inside the bottle. Planted on the north side of Mount Etna in the famed Contrada of Rovittello, we are quite familiar with this terroir. 

In fact, one of our Wine Access favorites from Etna is the Rosso from the well-known producer, Benanti. While also delicious, he makes his Rovitello in a denser style, aging it two years longer in bottle before releasing it for about three times the price of this wine. Both are fabulous, but the purity of the Nerello Mascalese and its volcanic terroir is positively singing in this Tenuta di Fessina Erse.

Nerello Mascalese has seen its stock rise tremendously in the last few years. A sommelier favorite for its value and versatility with food, we particularly love this one for its more elegant, refined expression. The old vines maintain a perfect level of ripeness and acidity growing so high up in the volcanic ash, receiving a healthy balance of morning sun and cool breezes from the altitude. 

Even without the impressive numbers that make this 2017 Tenuta di Fessina Erse Rosso a shoo-in for your new cellar red. This truly masterful wine spoke to us (and to James Suckling!) as clearly as it spoke to its remarkable terroir and Burgundian poise.