Calabretta "Cala Cala" Rosso NV

Press 4 Mix/Red • August 2024 Direct Press Selection

Calabretta, on the northern slope of Mt Etna, is one of our favorite estates, and though it is a regular presence on our shelves, we couldn't do a whole month of Etna wines without including at least one of their offerings. The winery is 100 years-old but has only been bottling their wines for about 25 years. Before that, they sold entire barrels to restaurants or private customers. Now they really advocate for long aging in big, older botti, and have some of the best examples of aged Etna wines. All of their wines, even this inexpensive everyday red, see a degree of barrel aging that is not typical, especially given their affordable prices. They are also refreshingly loose and wild in their approach, hardly a stuffy old winery, more like a quirky, rustic throwback.

The Cala Cala Rosso is a non-vintage wine, which allows them to offer an inexpensive red with 6-7 years of aging in huge, old barrels. It's a blend of Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio with spicy, smoky complexity from Etna’s effusive lava flow. Sage, medicinal cherry, even notes of leather that are extremely satisfying, with layers of fruit and tannin that are truly remarkable for this price. It's a wine that offers up a generosity and depth that will capture your heart. A former colleague of mine was so enamored of this wine that he got the cartoon slug on its label tattooed on his arm. Now how many wines can inspire that kind of devotion? Jonathan Kemp