Vini di Luca Virgola Rosso Etna DOC-C339

This was the wine that stopped me in my tracks at the Shalai wine bar in Lingualossa. I had been to Etna dozens of times, tasted with all the rock-star winemakers and imported a fair few over the years. Yet nothing prepared me for the combination of elegance and complexity that Luca musters from this tiny patch of centenarian vines. The nose is pure Pinot*, with wild strawberry, rhubarb, red currant and cherry, but there is something else as well, something more earthy and intoxicating, base and wild: notes of flint, woodsmoke, liquorice, tobacco, wet leaves and dried herbs all weave their way into the nose. The palate picks up the 14.5% ABV and runs with it – as if anything could dare challenge this amount of fruit. I have no idea how long this can age – possibly forever – but I'm not sure I care; it's completely delicious now. * For the record, it's 100% Nerello Mascalese. 2027-2033 – MP.