Frank Cornelissen Munjebel CR Terre Siciliane Red 2021

Country: Italy

Region: Sicily

Type: Red Wine

Grape: Nerello Mascalese

Frank Cornelissen is a Belgian-born, self-taught winemaker who relocated to the slopes of Mount Etna in 2001, driven by an uncompromising belief that great wine requires minimal intervention. Working with pre-phylloxera Nerello Mascalese vines of extraordinary age at elevations above 800 meters, Cornelissen practices radical natural viticulture — no sulfur, no additives, no filtration. His estate has become one of the defining voices in Italian natural wine, drawing the world's attention to Etna as one of the great wine terroirs of our time.

This pure Nerello Mascalese comes from a partly ungrafted vineyard Campo Re, situated at the far Western side in the valley floor, at the entrance of Randazzo. The vineyard altitude is 735m. asl and is characterized by deep soil which, in humid vintages creates major difficulties to obtain ripe fruit. The wines are profound and tannic, and more backward and Nebbiolo-ish compared to Cornelissen's other crus.

Wild cherry, volcanic minerals, dried herbs, and a touch of iron define the nose. The palate is tense, energetic, and linear, with a saline grip and liveliness that only ancient vines in volcanic soil can deliver.