The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

I started hearing about Mount Etna over the last couple of years as it grew in popularity in the "in" circles. The region has been going through a renaissance in the last 10 years, finally starting to show up on the radar of boutique wine shops and serious Italian restaurants. The fascinating and impressive aspect of red wines from Etna is their textural, structural, and color likeness to red Burgundy (Pinot Noir grape) and particularly to Barolo (Nebbiolo grape) - the two greatest wines in the world. One expects rustic, thick wines to come out of Sicily, the widely known consumer-marketed examples made from Nero D'Avola and Syrah. Yet, grown on elevations thousands of feet above sea level on centuries-old lava soils around the Mount Etna volcano (the largest active volcano in Europe), the native grape called Nerello Mascalese achieves dizzying heights. Last week, I sat with Enrico N. - director of Italian wines at one of the largest wine distributors in California - Wi...

Last time I posited that a light-bodied high-acidity fruity red wine paired well with seafood. Continuing with the theme on unexpected food-and-wine pairings, this time I evolved this concept by pairing a medium body Italian red wine with seafood pasta in light red sauce. While normally I would think more toward a Sangiovese-based Chianti or Umbrian red , or perhaps a Piedmonte's native Barbera or Dolcetto, this time I went to a lighter bodied wine, made of Nerello Mascalese, an indigenous grape varietal of Sicily with a Burgundian character, less cherry-like though, with a hint of pepper and volcano-ash-like, which worked wonderfully with the heartier, chewier flavors of the red sauce and calamari / shellfish / mollusk mix. Paired with Etna Rosso, Graci 2007 (available at Vineyard Gate ). Officially designated as Etna DOC, the vines are planted between 1800 and 2100 feet above sea level in the hills surrounding Mount Etna in Sicily, the second largest active volcano in Europe.