Wine Details

Cottanera Contrada Zottorinoto Etna Rosso Riserva DOC

The Etna Rosso Riserva Zottorinoto is made from 100% Nerello Mascalese from the estate’s oldest (over 60 years) vines, located in the Zottorinoto Cru at incredible altitudes of over 2,500 feet. In this exceptional wine, the grapes express their deepest character with floral notes and Mediterranean herbs interwoven with red fruits (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) and spicy vanilla and black tea. A velvety palate is balanced by the noble tannins. This is a wine for the most special of occasions.

Region:

Producer:

Cottanera

Classification:

Etna Rosso DOC

Variety:

100% Nerello Mascalese

Number of bottles produced:

1978 bottles

Production area:

Contrada Zottorinoto, Castiglione di Sicilia

Altitude:

750-800 meters (2460-2624 feet) a.s.l.

Age of vines:

60 years

Yield:

4,000 kg/ha

Training:

Espalier-gobelet

Vinification:

Gentle destemming and temperature-controlled (28°C /82°F) maceration on the skins for about 30 days. Temperature-controlled fermentation (26-28°C/78-82°F), with constant pump-overs and pressing. Malolactic fermentation in French oak barrels.

Refining:

24 months in Frenck oak barrels

Alcohol content:

14%

pH level:

3.63

Acidity:

5 g/l

Soil:

Lava-alluvial

Harvest:

Last week of October - manual, with small crates

Bottling:

Aged 24 months in bottle

Recent press reviews

94

Contrada Zottorinoto Etna Rosso Riserva DOC 2017

James Suckling (94)- "A very creamy and refined 2017 with black-cherry, chocolate and hazelnut aromas and flavors. Medium to full body with medium, round tannins and a savory finish. Drink or hold."

96

Contrada Zottorinoto Etna Rosso Riserva DOC 2016

Wine Advocate (96)- "An impressive wine from the Cambria family of Cottanera. From a classic and balanced vintage, the 2016 Etna Rosso Riserva Zottorinoto is redolent of dark fruit and blackcurrant. The primary fruit is beautifully intact, and the wine's natural acidity serves to play up the brightness and the freshness of those flavors. Purple and black fruit tones cede to spice, tar, smoke and grilled herb. This is a mid-weight red, but don't underestimate its power and complexity. There is a lot of Etna typicity packed into this elegant bottle. Again, this is an impressive Etna red."

95

Contrada Zottorinoto Etna Rosso Riserva DOC 2015

Wine Advocate (95)- "Cottanera's 2015 Etna Rosso Riserva Zottorinoto offers a beautiful level of purity and sharpness, with plenty of the electric energy and tightness you should expect of a great wine from Etna. This vintage offers some extra ripeness with fruity tones that veer toward plum and black cherry. But those fruit tones are reigned back by the defined mineral backbone of the wine that cedes to campfire ash and scorched earth. The 2015 fruit is a bit looser and thicker altogether. This wine should come together beautifully with a few more years of bottle aging. Only 1,900 bottles were made."