Girolamo Russo
Etna Rosso a Rina

For years and years Girolamo Russo has made my favorite Etna wines. If you aren’t familiar with Etna, it’s the active volcano that rises above Catania and has its own unique terroir and ecosystem that produces the most amazing wine. The slopes of Etna are draped and terraced with various vineyard sites, in between which black dramatic streaks run down the hillsides, a reminder of the most recent eruptions. What's so wild about Catania is when you walk through the streets, most of them are cobbled with these black stones that are from the volcano. Russo is on the Northern Slopes of Etna where the farming is all done organically and the vines range in age from 20-100 years. The vines love growing deep down into ancient lava flows that have been layered over and over by time, it’s so amazing and trippy when you start thinking about it! As a grape, Nerello Mascalese expresses itself as a cherry/ bright red fruit forward wine, soft and elegant with amazing minerality from the complexity of the soil. Its truly a delight to drink Russo’s wines, I hope that you love them as much as I do!

Serving temp: Cellar temp around 65 degrees, store in a cool and dark spot!
Pairing: Would be awesome with something simple like Margherita pizza or epic arancini balls like on the streets of Catania!