Generazione Alessandro Etna Rosso Croceferro / 2023 / 750mL

The Generazione Alessandro Etna Rosso "Croceferro" 2023 is a lifted, medium-bodied red from the volcanic slopes of the Etna DOC in Sicily. Nerello-based Etna Rosso tends to trade muscle for perfume and fine-grained tension, and this bottling sits squarely in that camp.

Aromatically it leans red: morello cherry, blood orange peel and dried rose, with a savoury turn towards crushed stone, thyme and a faint whiff of woodsmoke that Etna fruit so often carries.

The palate is pale in weight but firm in line, with sour cherry and pomegranate carried on bright acidity and tannins that feel sandy rather than grippy. There is a mineral, almost salty pull through the middle, and the finish is long and dry, closing on bitter cherry stone and dried herbs.

Serve it a touch cool with roast quail, mushroom risotto, grilled tuna with capers and olives, or pasta alla Norma. It also handles charcuterie and a plate of aged pecorino without breaking a sweat.

Drink the Croceferro 2023 now through to around 2031. It is approachable young, though a year or two in the cellar will let the tannins settle further and bring the savoury, ferrous side of Etna Rosso more clearly into focus.