2019 Murgo Metodo Classico Terre Siciliane Brut Rosé

VIN92 A pretty display of fresh roses and wild strawberries and hints of raw almond waft up from the 2019 brute rosé Metodo Classico. This is finely sculpted and precise, with streamlined acidity guiding its silken bubbles cross the palate, as richer notes of apricot and baked pear build toward the close. It leaves a coating of primary fruits under an air of pretty inner florals, while tapering off long and lightly structured. Wow. Murgo packed so much character into this sparkling Nerello Mascalese Rosato.

The Scammacca del Murgo family is one of the few winemaking families who can claim long, deep Etna roots; longer than even some of the older Nerello Mascalese vines! For more than 100 years this family has cared for olive and fruit trees, crafted fine olive oils and jams, and nurtured Etna’s native grapes under Etna’s looming shadow. Yet it’s only been since 1980 that the baron Emanuele Scammacca del Murgo transformed the farm into a modern agricultural estate. After a long and illustrious career as a diplomat with important postings as Italy’s ambassador to the Vatican, Brussels and Moscow as well as Assistant Secretary of State in Italy’s Foreign office, the baron came home to focus on his ancestral lands with the help of his eight sons, who are all involved in the family business. 

Currently Murgo’s 30 hectares of vineyards are located on three farms: San Michele in Santa Venerina, Gelso Bianco near Catania, and La Francescana in Aprilia. 1982 saw the first bottling of Etna Rosso, while their first vintage of Brut sparkling was in 1990. Farming is done sustainably with the goal of producing pleasing wines inextricable from their terroir with the lowest possible environmental impact.