Idda Etna Rosso / 2023 / 750mL

The IDDA Etna Rosso 2023 is a pale, perfumed red from the southern slopes of Mount Etna in Sicilia, built almost entirely on Nerello Mascalese with a small share of Nerello Cappuccio. It is a wine of red fruit and volcanic savour rather than density, closer in feel to fine Nebbiolo or Pinot Noir than to anything you would expect from southern Italy.

Wild strawberry, morello cherry and blood orange lead the aromatics, with dried thyme, crushed stone and a wisp of woodsmoke behind them. Roughly a quarter of the fruit is fermented as whole bunches, and you can taste it in the lift and the fine peppery edge running through the nose.

The palate is medium-bodied and finely drawn, with tannins that feel sandy and persistent rather than grippy. Grown at altitude on mineral sands, gravels and lava, the fruit keeps a cool, saline acidity that carries the flavour long past the point where the weight fades, closing dry and slightly ashen.

Pour it with roast duck, porcini risotto, veal ragù over pappardelle or a plate of grilled lamb cutlets with rosemary. It also handles harder cheeses and cured meats without being overwhelmed, and rewards a decant of half an hour.

Drinking well from now, the IDDA Etna Rosso 2023 has the acid and tannin structure to hold and improve through to around 2033.