Tasca D'Almerita Etna Tascante Ghiaia Nera

Interesting that this wine tastes better the 2nd day than the 1st given the fact that it's already 8 years old. While shy on fruit, the high acidity plus definite tannins no doubt keep it going. Nerello mascalese is an enigma. Some tasters call it the Sicilian version of pinot noir. Tasting this wine, I'm seeing more of nebbiolo — the lighter color, the high acidity, the apparent tannins. Drink now, but if the fruit holds up it could still …

My first tastes of Nerello Mascalese as far as I can recall. I didn't care for it. Tastes old.

A nice wine from Sicily that went well with a marvelous barley & ham soup. A bit rustic. Definitely better a couple days later. Revised upward from an 86.

Pop and pour and served with food (pierogis with onions and sauerkrauts, in case you were wondering). Light in color. Nose of pomegranate and cherries. Bright acidity on the intro, with some cherry notes and citrus. Touch of leather on the finish. This is a bright wine with good acidity and light red fruits.

Will take more formal notes on next bottle, brought this to a BYO and found it quite nice but definitely on the leaner, acid driven side. Good potential here, looking forward to tasting in proper stemware.

rustic red fruit, woody red fruit. shows some kernel on the nose. on the palate, red cherry fruit, carries some tannin. med/-, maybe a notch higher. again, has a love-child-of-pinot-noir-and-nebbiolo vibe to the palate. feels a little closed at the cork pull and probably needs some time to unfurl.

Nose: It is on the tighter side to being with, but with some good air and swirling it emerges with red cherries, earth tones, leather, ashy notes, red berries, and some red currants. There is nice depth with a real freshness to the fruit. Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The structure starts to bite a slight bit more with air. Even when the structure starts to show itself, there is a silkiness to the feel with …

Despite youth, developing a nice brick color. Just a bit tight - needs 30 minutes or so to open up. After that, extremely enjoyable, similar to a heavy-bodied Pinot.

Grandi Marchi Tasting (Dockside Balcony, Cocklebay, Sydney) : Red currant over cherry, slight menthol notes. In the mouth the wine has juicy red cherry then massive tanning that is chalky textured and grabs the whole mouth dominating everything. Hmm

Grandi Marchi Italian Tasting (Sydney, Australia) : Meaty and smoky. Cloudy coloured. Acid is at the fore on the palate, with a line of bright red cherry cutting through. Medium length.