Palmento Di Levante 2021

Palmento Di Levante 2021 is a natural wine crafted by Fabio Signorelli, on Mount Etna in the Sicily region in Italy. This complex and bold red wine is made with 100% Nerello Mascalese grapes, grown on the volcanic soils of Etna. 

 As for the name? A Palmento is an old winemaking building, often found on Etna but not used anymore as not very sanitary (wine would flow through stone pipes difficult to clean) but some winemakers have refurbished and repurposed the buildings, honouring the winemaking that went into them. See an image of one in the slides

The vineyards for this Palmento di Levante wine are sourced between 550–850 metres altitude, with vines roughly 20–64 years old. The grapes are destemmed by hand and fermented spontaneously in small open vats, with 14–21 days of skin contact and gentle daily punch-downs. After manual pressing and spontaneous malolactic fermentation, the wine is aged mainly in small concrete tanks, with a small portion in old neutral oak, then rests in bottle for at least 12 months before release.

We are excited to try this wine shortly, which we hear features bursts of dark cherry, wild berries, rosemary, thyme and a subtle smoky edge. We hear it is fresh and medium-bodied, with fine tannins, an earthy volcanic minerality, gentle spice and a long savoury finish. Sounds like our kinda wintery red!