2023 Feudo Pignatone Sciauro Etna Rosato, Emiliano Falsini

This is hands down one of the most complex, thrillingly mineral Rosés we’ve ever tasted. Made from Sicily’s most noble red grape, Nerello Mascalese, and straw-coloured, with the structure of a light-bodied red, it’s tempting to describe it not as a Rosé but a Blanc de Noirs.

Emiliano Falsini is among Italy’s top winemaking consultants with a client list including Giacomo Fenocchio (Barolo) and Girolamo Russo (Etna). From the 2020 vintage, he began bottling wines under his own name from prime sites in Bolgheri and Mount Etna.

Across the board, there’s a transparency and sense of energy to Emiliano’s wines that is truly outstanding. All are recommended in the strongest possible terms, but our focus today is the 2023 Feudo Pignatone Rosato from the eponymous contrada or cru, that’s just arrived on our shores.

It hails from vines up to a century old, at some 700m altitude on Etna’s north slope. The soil here is, of course, volcanic, and the microclimate is characterised by both intense sunlight and a powerful sea breeze.

The grapes are gently pressed, fermented (with ambient yeast) in small wooden barrels, then raised in cask for three months. Immensely fresh and saline but it’s also the soupçon of grippy tannin on the mid-palate that makes Emiliano’s Rosato so compelling.

Available for immediate delivery, 2023 Feudo Pignatone rosato is a gastronomic, boundary-pushing rosé that’s drinking quite brilliantly now, but will continue to drink well for a further 2-3 years at least. It is not to be missed.

Will Heslop, Buyer