2023 Etna Rosato, de Aetna, Terra Costantino, Sicily, Italy

Tasting note

Wild strawberries, flowers and hints of the Ionian sea breeze make for a juicy and refreshing rosato, with an energising salinity on the finish.

Our thoughts

Founded in the 1990s by Dino and Fabio Costantino via the purchase of a run-down property with some very old vines, this 10-hectare organic estate is a patchwork of small plots on the south-eastern flanks of Etna, where the reds tend to have a bit more heft than those from the northern slopes. Fewer than 2,000 bottles of the rosé are made (though fortunately, a third of the production makes its way to Jeroboams) from a blend of 90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Nerello Capuccio, hand-harvested, de-stemmed and lightly pressed, the juice then cool-fermented in stainless steel. Pale tangerine in colour, this is a really characterful, complex rosé with a bit of palate weight and tannin lending notable structure, and could even warrant ageing.