Giovanni Rosso Etna Bianco 2016
Take our favourite Barolo producer, add some indigenous Sicilian varieties from 40-plus year old vineyards around Mt Etna, and voila: magic white wine. There’s nothing mysterious or untoward in the winemaking. It’s kept on skins for a short period then pressed, juice fermented over a couple of weeks, and aged on lees in stainless steel for five months. As with all Giovanni Rosso’s wines, this is about site. Site, and the ancient grapes (mostly carricante) that are thought to have been grown on the slopes of Mt Etna for at least 1,000 years. So they’ve had time to acclimatise.
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The team reckon this wine should be had with risotto with fresh clams, and that sounds pretty good to me. Or some salt-baked bream. I’m starting to think I might like living in Sicily.
The Etna vineyards are a new acquisition for Giovanni Rosso, and this is the first year they’ve made the wine, under this label at least. If you’re going to hang your hat on only one white in your portfolio, we’re pretty rapt that it’s this one. It knocked my socks off, that’s for sure. Must be doing the same thing with hats, as Mike Bennie recommends we hold onto our them.
Here, you hold mine, I’m just going to pour myself another generous glass of this exotic deliciousness...
Reviews
Mike Bennie
“Isn’t this the way of things, like the Burgundians eyeing off Jura, Piedmontese looking to Etna… Giovanni Rosso decided to buy a parcel of land in 2016 and produced this, his first wine. Mostly carricante here, but with bits and pieces of other indigenous varieties in the mix. Hold onto your hats! Looking forward to the interpretations of nerello mascalese in the hands of this fine producer. Sweet and savoury scented wine, white pear, floral notes, some fennel and alpine herb, a suggestion of wet pebble or warm slate or something stony and elemental. Juicy and brisk in the palate, a touch of skinsy chew, a bit of wet pebble grip and the wine flows on citrus and firm, white pear crunch. Lovely wine to sip on, ultra refreshing, quite delicate in a way, but wholly satisfying. Elegant, fine feeling wine.”
It’s cool, we get it, you want to know absolutely everything about this wine. Well here you go, go nuts.
Specs
- Region
- Sicily
- Vintage
- 2016
- Cellaring
- 2025
- Preservatives
- Sulphites
- Alcohol by Vol.
- 13.0%
- Closure
- Cork
- Bottle Vol
- 750mL
- Blend Info
- Predominantly Carricante, with small batches of other local grape varieties
- Serving Temp.
- 10.0°C
The rules are there ain’t no rules, but here are some foods we think will work pretty well with this wine...
Goes with
Chicken and sesame salad
Ingredients
- 1 barbecued chicken
- 120g baby spinach, washed, dried
- 1 large carrot, peeled, thinly sliced
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 bunches asparagus, trimmed, cut into thirds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
- Dressing
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons tahini
Directions
- Remove flesh from chicken. Shred chicken. Place into a bowl. Add spinach, carrot and onions.
- Half-fill a frying pan with water. Bring to the boil over medium heat. Add asparagus. Cook until just tender. Drain. Refresh under cold water.
- Make dressing Whisk together orange juice, tahini, and salt and pepper.
- Add asparagus and dressing to chicken mixture. Toss to combine. Spoon into bowls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve.