2016 Eduardo Torres Acosta Viticultore, Versante Nord, Bianco Terre Siciliane IGT, Italy.
Eduardo Torres Acosta, the Spaniard, a native of the Canary Islands who now make Sicily home is one of the young winemakers to watch on the Island, after working with natural wine princess Arianna Occhipinti and currently head winemaker of Etna’s famed Azienda Passopisciaro, has been an instant hit with his Etna sourced red blend, mostly Nerello Mascalese, which he has been doing since the 2014 vintage, now has an amazing Uve Bianche (white Etna wine) made from six different parcel of old vines on the valance’s north side, hence the name Versante Nord, it’s a blend of Minella mainly with the rest including other local varieties Catarratto, Carricante, Coda di Volpe, Grecanico and Inzolia. Complex and brilliant in detail the spiced apply Vesante Nord Bianco was fermented spontaneously in concrete tank, with maceration on the skins for 5 days without temperature control, before resting in well seasoned botti (large oak cask) using organic and hand tended grapes from volcanic soils at high elevation to preserve cool acidities. The 2016 Eduardo Torres Acosta Bianco starts with it’s golden hue with an amber tint and that spiced apple, almost cidery before opening up to a medium bodied palate that includes an array of layered white and yellow fruits showing dried pineapple, quince, pear and zest lemon/lime along with a touch skin tannins, flinty/shate and mixed exotic spices, it picks up a hint of anise/fennel, crystalized ginger and a little oxidative mature element (backed apple and nuttiness) that is common with both nature wines and white on volcanic ash. This is wonderfully expressive and wildly alluring wine that is a touch rustic, but charming and it’s quality readily apparent, especially with air and it should prove a great wine to enjoy on a warm evening with friends, food and intelligent conversation. This white makes an excellent companion to Acosta’s marvelous Nerello based reds, be sure not to over look this producer when looking for Etna wines, and as a side note, the only reason these wines are not labeled Etna Rosso or Etna Bianco, is because Eduardo makes his wines at a facility outside the DOC, even though his grapes are all from classified zones.
($32 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

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