$29.99 on 6+ bottles (use code: 6saves2)

93 pts Vinous
Drinking Window2025-2030
The 2023 Etna Rosso A Rina wafts up with a savory profile, mixing woodland berry with nuances of sage, wet concrete and a burst of tangerine. This displays a lovely sweetness with its ripe strawberry and cherry fruits as rosy inner florals cascade throughout. It leaves a saturation of primary concentration as depths of tart raspberry mingle with autumnal spices through the long, refreshing finish. The product of severe selection, this is the only red from Girolamo Russo in 2023 due to the challenges of the year. It is not to be missed.- ByEric GuidoonMay 2025

Sadly, Girolamo Russo decided not to bottle any Contrada wines from 2023. All of their Nerello Mascalese went into the Etna Rosso A Rina, which still totaled only 50% of the normal production. For Russo fans, this is a wine to hunt for. Its a gorgeous interpretation of the vintage, atypical of most wines Ive ever tasted at this address, yet stunningly beautiful. Luckily, we still have the 2022s to hold us over. Its a selection of truly elegant wines, but in the end, the San Lorenzo, from 90-year-old vines and the selection Piano delle Colombe really steals the show.

Varieties on avg:
Nerello mascalese 90%
Nerello Cappuccio 10%
Contrada Sourced from:
San Lorenzo, Feudo, Calderara Sottana, Feudo di Mezzo
Farming: Certified Organic
Age of vines: Planted between 1924 and 2005
Altitude & Soil Type: 715 M, volcanic
Winemaking: 15 days maceration, controlled low temperature fermentation in steel and plastic tanks with indigenous yeasts Aging: 16 months in 2,600 L barrel, cement and used barrique

All estate bottled fruit from a combination of Giuseppes different sites, roughly 90% Nerello Mascalese with 10% Nerello Cappuccio, all planted using massal selection. Vines range from 20 to 100 years of age, rooted in weathered volcanic lava flows on the north side of Mount Etna, head-trained or modified head-trained. Elevation is between 650 and 800 meters (2150-2600 feet) above sea level, very high for red wines.Yields are very low, less than two tons per acre; the grapes are picked, by hand in late October, brought to the cellar in Passopisciaro, mostly de-stemmed, crushed, and fermented using indigenous yeasts. The skins are macerated in the wine for a total of about ten days before pressing. Malolactic fermentation takes place spontaneously in the spring, when the weather warms up; the wine ages in 2,600 liter barrels and concrete tanks for about a year before bottling.