Benanti Pietra Marina Etna Bianco Superiore 2020

Benanti Pietra Marina Etna Bianco Superiore 2020

Benanti Pietra Marina Etna Bianco Superiore 2020

Regular price $168.99
/
93 pts Vinous
Drinking Window 2025 - 2030
The 2020 Etna Bianco Superiore Pietra Marina is lifted and finessed with a remarkably pretty and airy character as white flowers, smoke and a dusting of sweet spice give way to nectarines. Elegant in feel yet seemingly weightless, it splashes across the palate with perfumed orchard fruit tones. Nuances of ginger mix with minerals and a subtle hint of citrus as the 2020 finishes with admirable length and a saline note. I'm not finding the typical tension and verticality of Pietra Marina here, but with that said, the 2020 is still lovely. - By Eric Guido on May 2025
- By Eric Guido on March 2024

Appellation: Etna D.O.C. Bianco Superiore, which accounts for about 1% of the aggregate Etna D.O.C. production

Grape variety: Carricante, the noble indigenous white grape of the Etna volcano. The berries are medium-sized with very pruinose skin and a green-yellowish color. The bunches are of average length and scattered

Vineyard: “Contrada” Rinazzo in the village of Milo, on the eastern slope of Mount Etna, facing the Ionian Sea Altitude c.800 m a.s.l. (c.2,600 feet a.s.l.)
Climate: Mountain climate, humid, rainy and snowy in winter, with very high ventilation, luminosity and diurnal range

Soil: Volcanic sands, rich in minerals, with sub-acid reaction (pH = 6.5) Age and training system of vines Up to 80 years old, head-trained, short-pruned bush vines grown on small terraces with dry lava-stone walls

Vine density: From 8,000 to 9,000 vinestocks per hectare. Yield is c.5,500 kg per hectare

Vinification: The selected grapes are hand-picked in mid-October, sorted, de-stemmed and softly pressed. Fermentation of the free-run juice occurs for about 15 days at controlled temperature in a stainless steel vat, with an indigenous yeast selected in the vineyard by Benanti exclusively for the vinification of the Carricante variety. The wine then matures in stainless steel on the fine lees for 30 months, with frequent stirring, until bottling.

Refining: In the bottle for 12 months

ABV: 12 - 12.5% by VOL.

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