93 points Vinous Media
Drinking window: 2027 - 2038
The 2024 Etna Rosso Feudo di Mezzo is highly expressive with a dusty bouquet of dried roses, violets, crushed blackberries and citrus-spiked cherries. This is lifted and juicy in style with pure wild berry fruits and mineral tones propelled by zesty acidity. The 2024 reveals a crunchy structure through the long, fresh and spicy finish.

The 2024s from Tenuta delle Terre Nere are nearly hedonistic in character yet remain expertly balanced. They are a fascinating follow-up to the 2023s, which were all about finesse and energy. The contrast speaks to Marco de Grazia’s ability to let the growing season come through without sacrificing balance.

Among the single-vineyard releases, the Etna Rosso Bocca d’Orzo continues to impress with each passing vintage, followed closely by the San Lorenzo. The Etna Rosso Prephylloxera, typically the most tightly wound bottling upon release, was highly expressive this year. The 2024 vintage also marks the inaugural release of a new Etna Bianco Superiore from Caselle, a cru on the eastern slopes in Milo. The crystalline, powerful 2024 highlights why this sector continues to grow in popularity.

Beginning with the 2026 vintage, updated DOC regulations will finally permit producers to include a wine’s specific township (comune) of origin on its label. This is a bureaucratic victory de Grazia has championed for a long time in an effort to better distinguish Etna’s various terroirs. As de Grazia commented, “I see it as my responsibility to help pave the path for Etna.” The current system simply falls short, as terroir can change drastically even within the boundaries of a single contrada. Tenuta delle Terre Nere remains both a benchmark on the volcano and an important force shaping its next generation. - Eric Guido September 2026

Winery:
Feudo di Mezzo is perhaps the largest Contrada of the Etna DOC: homogeneous in character, but with evident qualitative variations. A bit like you could say about Clos de Vougeot in Burgundy.
The best parcels – such as our “Quadro delle Rose” – exhibit a shady character, autumnal suggestions in its spicy-resin bouquet. Always the first vineyard to be harvested, it also always gives us the most open, generous and smooth wine. Of all our crus it is the supremely velvety one, with the sweetest tannins, with an enveloping bouquet. I love it as it ages ineffably, its crepuscular nature which, as it matures, gains luminosity.
Poultry, pork in milk or roast pork, braised meats, feathered game, but also ragù, finanziera, lasagna.

Appellation: Etna Rosso D.O.C.
Production area: Municipality of Castiglione di Sicilia.
Grapes: Nerello Mascalese.
Vineyard extension: 1.2 hectares.
Production: 5 tons per hectare.
Soil: volcanic, mixed, deep, with prevalence of ash.
Exposure: north side of Etna at 600 meters above sea level
Age of the vines: from 60 to 80 years.
Annual production: 5,000 bottles.