2023 Eduardo Torres Acosta, Bianco Terre Siciliane IGT, Versante Nord, Sicily, Italy.
The all natural, golden/yellow and unique Etna “Versante Nord” white from Eduardo Torres Acosta is a beautiful mineral driven effort from various higher elevation vines on the volcano’s northern contradas showing off pure terroir influences with stone fruit, grilled citrus, subtle tropical notes, flinty wet stones and exotic spicy elements. This fine medium bodied and elegant white, which is quite sensitive to its temperature in the glass, really improves as it finds the perfect range, balancing the acidity and textural feel and there’s a bit of phenolic grip here, thanks to a period of skin contact, see below, making this wine best with food. The palate delivers classic volcanic soil intensity and steely details, there’s apricot, apple, quince and tangerine notes and a smoky background from the lava/ash which the vines are planted in, I was really happy to re-discover Eduardo’’s wines, which I’ve been a fan of since his first release about 10 years ago now. I had this bottle, which is imported by Farm Wines and Louis/Dressner, the other night along with some serious Burgundy, and it showed brilliantly and I highly recommend Torres Acosta’s wines, with both his Etna red and whites equally. Again this wine, like in past vintages, is nicely layered showing dried pineapple along with a touch skin tannin, and it picks up a hint of anise/fennel, crystalized ginger and hazelnut with air.
Eduardo Torres Acosta, a Spaniard, and a native of the Canary Islands who now make Sicily home is one of the winemakers to watch on Sicily’s Mount Etna, as mentioned in my prior reviews, after working with Arianna Occhipinti and Etna’s famed Azienda Passopisciaro, Eduardo been an instant hit with his Etna sourced red blend, mostly Nerello Mascalese, which he has been doing since the 2014 vintage as well as this amazing Uve Bianche (white Etna wine). This wine is usually made from six different parcels of old vines on the volcanco’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 apple and lemony, golden hued Vesante Nord Bianco was fermented, as mentioned above, 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. This white makes an excellent companion to Acosta’s marvelous Nerello based reds, 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 official DOC zone. Mount Etna is still going strong with enthusiasts and grapes like Nerello Mascalese and Carricante are now widely admired for their clarity of terroir and Burgundy like delicacy and depth.
($34 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive