91+pts Vinous Media
The 2021 Etna Rosso Moganazzi is quite delicate and coy. It slowly evolves with a nuanced blend of incense, dried roses and exotic citrus. This is supple, round and medium-bodied, with zesty acidity and a crystalline core of minerals that add traction as tart wild berry fruits slowly saturate. It finishes a bit short, yet impactful, leaving a bitter raspberry tinge and grippy tannins that tug the cheeks. The 2021 Moganazzi perplexes me because it’s undeniably elegant and understated in a way that I find widely attractive, yet the structured and light-hearted finish leaves me longing. For now, I remain conservative, but I also wouldn’t pass up the chance to add this to my cellar. One day, the 2021 may deserve a higher score.

Appellation: Etna Rosso D.O.C.
Production area: Moganazzi, Municipality of Castiglione di Sicilia.
Grapes: 100% Nerello mascalese
Vineyard extension: 1,5 hectares.
Production: 5 tons per hectare.
Soil: volcanic, medium depth, topsoil rich of ashes and then layers of stones
Exposure: north side of Etna at 700-750 meters above sea level
Age of the vineyards: from 70 to 90 years
Annual production: 3,000 bottles

“Moganazzi and Guardiola, with Santo Spirito closely following, have always been considered the best terroirs of the Municipality of Castiglione, the largest of the northern slopes of Etna. Consequently, in 2007, when I discovered a very small plot of Moganazzi for sale, I grabbed it without hesitation. But it was so tiny that I decided to dedicate its splendid wine – three barriques! – to a charity project linked to the Meyer pediatric hospital in Florence.

The labels, I decided, would be designed by my daughter, (which she made since the first two years of age!) Three years ago we managed to buy an adjacent parcel and rent another piece immediately next to it. So, with the 2017 harvest I began to bottle the Moganazzi cru also for Terre Nere”. Marco de Grazia

Aesthetically splendid, the vineyard stands at 700 meters on steep terraces covered with sapling vines of about eighty years. The entire production is around 3,000 bottles. The wine is “sparkling”: of dense texture and luminous character, with a captivating attack and the discreet beauty of a Greek sculpture. Over time, his refined drive makes room for a soft resilience, combined with a nervous and intimate richness sustained by a twilight.