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5218 Lawton Avenue
Oakland, CA 94114

510-654-9159

Oliver McCrum Wines has been importing small production Italian wine and distributing to fine retail and restaurant establishes throughout California since 1994. Over time, our portfolio of producers has steadily grown to over 45 producers from 15 different regions of Italy. We look for typical Italian wines with clarity and freshness, usually made from indigenous Italian grape varieties using clean, transparent winemaking techniques and no obvious use of oak. 

Blog

Mt. Etna and the Wines of Emiliano Falsini

Michele Boscia

We are kicking off the year with more additions to the website! This time it’s a new overview of the Mt. Etna region to our Sicily regional page, including extensive notes from Oliver on the wines made there. We also invite you to check out the incredibly-detailed map of Mt. Etna uploaded to that page (it’s worth a few minutes of detailed inspection!). 

While we’re on the topic of Mt. Etna, it just so happens that one of our esteemed winemakers in this region, Emiliano Falsini will be touring the country for the next couple of weeks. Did you know that in addition to Mt. Etna he also makes expressive, brooding Cabernet Franc from Bolgheri in Tuscany? Let’s dig into both….

On the north side of Mt. Etna, Emiliano specializes in old vine Nerello Mascalese from 100 year old sites that yield less than two pounds of fruit per vine. These pale, almost Pinot Noir-like wines from the Feudo Pignatone contrada are brimming with strawberries, concentrated cherry pit, wild herbs, and exquisitely-fine tannins, showcasing the complexity of Mt. Etna’s dynamic terroir.

Along the Tuscan coast where he grew up, Emiliano grows Cabernet Franc in deep clay soils that result in dark, violet-tinged red wines with tremendous character. Aged in terracotta amphora (as well as small French oak barrels), the wines under Falsini’s Il Debbio and Il Limite labels are almost haunting with aromas of violets, blackberry, and savory herbs.

Emiliano has consulted for dozens of wineries all over Italy including Girolamo Russo, Alberto Graci, Tabarrini, and Antonella Lombardo over the years, but only bottles his own wines from Bolgheri and Etna. His connection to the former was established long ago as a kid growing up, but Etna is only a recent fascination - Emiliano fell in love with ‘the mountain’ (as many do) after working for several wineries there. 

We’ve got lots of super exciting dinners and tasting events the next couple of weeks if you would like to meet Emiliano in person and taste the wines for yourself! 

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