ABOUT I SUOLI:

As if Giuseppe Russo wasn’t sufficiently busy with the wines he makes under the Girolamo Russo label, he has committed to this new project with his two friends, Dante Pasqua and Emiliano Falsini. Their new project is dedicated to different styles of sparkling wines, from vineyards near his winery in Passopisciaro, on the north side of Mount Etna. Giuseppe’s father was a farmer and winemaker here, with vineyards and a pretty substantial winery building right in the village of Passopisciaro, next to the railroad tracks.

From Walter Speller, on Jancisrobinson.com:

‘Last January saw the release of two red wines from Etna by newcomer I Suoli, or 'The Soils'. I might have overlooked them, were it not for the fact that one of Etna's best producers, Giuseppe Russo of the Girolamo Russo estate, is involved, along with the eminent oenologist Emiliano Falsini and non-wine-related Dante Pasqua. Pasqua is an old friend of Giuseppe Russo and the two go back as far as the sand pit. The wines, made of 100% Nerello Mascalese, carry quirky labels designed by the multi-talented Carla Capalbo...'*

* see jancisrobinson.com for more, including tasting notes.

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the wines:

Terre Siciliane Spumante ‘Piripicchio’

This rosé sparkling wine is made entirely of Nerello Mascalese, from vines that are between 40 and 100 years old, grown at between 650 and 750 meters (roughly 2,100 and 2,500 feet) in elevation. The soils are volcanic, as they are everywhere on Etna, formed from lava flows of different periods that have weathered with time. The wine is made by a very unusual winemaking method called the ‘Metodo Scacchi,’ which starts with the production of a rosé still wine: fruit is picked in early October; the grapes are pressed, with a few hours of maceration in the press to pick up a little pink color, then allowed to start fermenting using their own yeasts. Once the base wine is made, it ages in tank and used barriques until the following fall, when it is blended with a little unfermented juice from the new harvest. Then the combination is bottled with a crown cap; the wine referments in the bottle, with all of the CO2 being captured, along with a little residual yeast from the fermentation. The wine is released after about six months. (This is a little like the ‘methode champenois,’ but using must instead of sugar, and with no disgorgement.)

Nerello Mascalese makes excellent rosé, of course, one of the most interesting in Italy, and this just a sparkling version of it. Piripicchio loosely translates to ‘happy go lucky’ a nod to the intention behind the wine - drink with friends without the usual formality associated with sparkling wine.

Six thousand bottles produced.

metodo Classico extra Brut

Most of the grapes for the metodo Classico Extra Brut come from Contrade Tartaraci at an elevation of nearly 1000m. It is one of the highest vineyards on Mt Etna and its cooler microclimate and bigger diurnal temperature variation make it especially suited for sparkling wine. The grapes are vinified with indigenous yeasts in a mix of stainless steel and used barriques and then aged there for 10 months before being bottled. A tirage of must from the new vintage is added and the wine referments in bottle, then ages on lees for at least 30 months before disgorgement.

The wine is very lightly pink hued and looks almost like it could be a white wine in the glass, as is the case with some still rosé from Nerello Mascalese, and similarly delicate on the palate. We get lemon verbena, white strawberry, raspberry and raw almond with volcanic and salty notes on the finish. The bubbles are small, making for a juicy yet contemplative wine that I’ll keep coming back to when I want to impress friends in the wine business, or when there is a particularly delicious meal on the table.

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more information:

Learn more about Emiliano Falsini

Learn more about Girolamo Russo