Up at 1000 meters on Mount Etna, a powerful hot summer baked our old vines of Nerello Mascalese in 2006 . The slopes of the volcano had been covered with icy snow until April and the plants had all the nourishment that they needed. That combination of good intake during growth and then heat in the summer made the skins into a strong fabric that carried the grapes safely all the way into November; which is where the altitude has them reach a late ripeness. Many pickings at different stages of this kind of maturity added complexity and length to the final wine. It was a monster that had to be chiseled and polished many times, but finally it turned itself into the elegant kind of wine that Nerello Mascalese can be.
