A particularly engaging quaff. Well done.

–Billy Norris, Vinous
 
Mount Etna’s ash-black slopes may not be the first place you think of when you your summer rosé craving hits, but Benanti proves that volcanic rock, mountain air, and Nerello Mascalese can make Italy’s most food-friendly pink wine.

Sicily nerds know that Nerello is special: each, a unique beauty with fine perfume, seductive fruit, satisfying tannic grip, and a subtly salty aftertaste. It’s a profile that makes Etna Rosso both one of the best food wines in the world and one of the most compelling. But it’s also the sort of complex profile that most rosés sand down.
 
Not Benanti! This is a benchmark producer, a key player in Sicily’s wine revival, and while their rosato offers all the summer charm you could crave, it remains Etna through-and-through. The magic that the Benanti family and their legendary winemaker, Salvo Foti, pioneered together, are all present: high altitude (up to 2,300 feet) and low yielding vines (25 years old, planted very densely); hand harvesting; gentle treatment in the winery. No wonder the wine does it all.

If you ask the Benantis, you’ll hear about pairing it with salumi, or fresh vegetables and fish. And those are all great. But if you’re enjoying a glass when you decide to grill some burgers, there’s no reason to stop: this rosato’s easygoing pleasures come with just enough grip and fresh acidity, just the right dusting of minerality and salinity, to bring an extra dimension to that charred beef.
 
This is a rosé that will be in beautiful shape not just through the fall, but all the way into next year. (It’s a little early to be thinking about Thanksgiving wines…unless it isn’t!)
 
Benanti, Etna Rosato, 2024 $28.99
“The 2024 Etna Rosato is coppery orange/pink in hue. It delivers a rich, broad, spicy array of peach and cherry fruit with a motivating line of gentle acidity. Texture and grip build through the finish, making this a particularly engaging quaff. Well done.” —Billy Norris, Vinous