eRobertParker.com #212 May 2014 Monica Larner
Anna Martens and her Etna wines are one of the most exciting discoveries I have made this year. I met Anna years ago when she had just left a cellar job at Tenuta dell’Ornellaia on the Tuscan coast and had a vague memory of her moving to Etna to work with Andrea Franchetti. But I didn’t know until recently that this petite Australian had started her own wine brand on the volcano. She runs a small vineyard with her husband Eric Narioo on the north face of Etna. Many of her head-trained vines reach 100 years of age and are planted up to 900 meters above sea level. She adopts a non-interventionists- philosophy with natural yeast, no fining or filtering, and little or no SO2. Her most exciting wine, Qvevri, is made in 2,000 liter Georgian clay vessels.
2012 Vino di Anna Bianco 92/100 Drink: 2014-2022
The 2012 Vino Bianco is a blend of Grecanico, Carricante, Riesling and other white grapes. While this is considered an –orange- wine because of its bright copper and amber hue, Anna has decided to go for a lighter, more traditional color with the unreleased 2013 vintage. This wine sees six days of skin maceration and offers pretty aromas of candied fruit, dry mineral, honey and apricot. It feels shapely and bold in the mouth with solid structure at the back. Drink 2014-2022.
2012 Vino di Anna Rosso Qvevri 93/100 Drink: 2016-2022
The 2012 Rosso Qvevri sees fruit harvested from the Don Alfio vineyard at 900 meters above sea level and is aged in giant clay amphorae. After malolactic fermentation, the qvevri clay containers are sealed and the Nerello grapes were left to macerate until April 2013. It was then pressed and put into stainless steel. Dark fruit tones give enormous personality and the bouquet is indeed redolent of wet terracotta, dried fruit and sweet apricot. Drink 2016-2022
2012 Vino di Anna Palmen+o 88/100 Drink:2015-2020
The 2012 Palmen+o is the first wine made in Anna’s recently restored 250-yr-old palmen+o. Nerello Mascalese was pressed by foot and aged on fine lees for 12 months in oak casks. It shows elegance and harmony with a fine brightness at the back. Simple layers of dried cherry and cassis give it a sense of honesty and wholesomeness. Drink 2015-2020
Importer: Indie Wineries www.indiewineries.com