Red Grape · Sicily
Nerello Mascalese is the noble red of Mount Etna: pale and perfumed yet firm, fresh and savoury, a wine of black volcanic soil, high-altitude vineyards and gnarled old bush vines that drinks more like a mountain Nebbiolo than anything else in Sicily.
Nerello Mascalese [Neh-rel-loh Mas-ka-leh-seh] is a must-try for UK wine lovers. It offers a unique sip with Mediterranean flair. It is a native Sicilian variety, grown mostly on the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna. Its Greek roots go back to ancient times. The profile is complex. It moves between fruity and spicy, mineral-rich and tannic. The wines pair impeccably with classic British dishes, such as a hearty meat pie or a rich mushroom risotto. Welcome to the alluring world of Nerello Mascalese.
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Setting it straight
The anchor fact: Yes, it looks almost translucent in the glass, but Nerello Mascalese is one of Italy's most structured and ageworthy reds, its pale colour a badge of altitude and thin skins, not a sign of a light, simple wine.
Taste · Where it sits
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Nerello Mascalese described against grapes you already know.
Medium-bodied and sinewy, lighter on its feet than Sicily's burly Nero d'Avola and framed more like Pinot Noir or Nebbiolo than a heavyweight southern red.
Fine-grained yet genuinely firm and chalky, closer to Nebbiolo's serious grip than to a plush, easy Merlot, and a key reason the wine ages so well.
Fresh and mouth-watering thanks to Etna's altitude and cold nights, a nerve rare in southern Italy that also drives the grape's Etna Rosato and traditional-method sparkling.
Bone-dry and savoury, leaning on tart red cherry and wild berry rather than the jammy dark fruit of warmer Sicilian reds like Nero d'Avola.
Key flavours
The map
Nerello Mascalese is medium-bodied, firm tannin, mapped against other red grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and grip resemble Nerello Mascalese.
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Serving guide
Serve at
16-18°C
Serve cool, around 16 to 18°C: warmer and the tannin and alcohol turn harsh, colder and the perfume closes up.
Decant
1 hour
Give a young, tannic Etna red an hour in the decanter to settle the grip and lift its ash and dried-herb notes.
Glass
Tulip Glass
Reach for a tulip glass: its narrower rim gathers the wine's delicate, Pinot-like perfume that a wide Barolo bowl would scatter.
Drink within
3-5 days
Village Etna Rosso is delicious young, drinking well from about 3 to 5 years as its fruit turns savoury.
Cellar
5-10 years
Serious contrada and old-vine bottlings reward 5 to 10 years or more, deepening into tar, dried herb and orange peel.
On the table
Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.
Etna's home match
Grown at the foot of the volcano above Catania, Nerello meets its local hero: its bright acid cuts the tomato and fried aubergine while fine tannin handles the salty ricotta salata.
Fat, meet acid
Like a good red Burgundy, Nerello's high acid and savoury red fruit slice through the duck's richness and chime with the sweet-savoury hoisin and scallion.
Herbs and grip
Firm, fine-grained tannin frames the pink lamb, while the wine's wild-fennel and macchia-scrub edge echoes a rosemary crust without overwhelming the meat.
The sea's red wine
Pale and lithe enough for fish, Nerello is a natural with seared tuna: its tart cherry and saline snap flatter the meaty flesh where a heavier red would flatten it.
Browse every pairing
Buy it · three to start with
A curated trio across the price range, then every Nerello Mascalese on sale in the UK right now.
The sweet spot
6 retailers
Etna
6 retailers
£21.50
Why this one: Step up to a single cru: Planeta's bottling from the Feudo di Mezzo contrada, at around 610m on the north slope, tightens the wine into something more mineral, structured and site-specific than a blended village red.
Special occasion
2 retailers
Etna
2 retailers
£140.40
Why this one: The summit of the grape: Terre Nere's pre-phylloxera cuvee from ungrafted vines well over a century old in the Calderara Sottana contrada, a deep, mineral, endlessly ageworthy statement of old-vine Nerello and volcanic terroir.
12 of 139 bottles
7 retailers
Terre Siciliane
7 retailers
£56.50
6 retailers
Etna
6 retailers
£21.50
6 retailers
Terre Siciliane
6 retailers
£50.90
5 retailers
Sicilia
5 retailers
£21.00
5 retailers
Terre Siciliane
5 retailers
£57.42
5 retailers
Etna
5 retailers
£60.00
4 retailers
Etna
4 retailers
£20.03
4 retailers
Etna
4 retailers
£21.11
4 retailers
Etna
4 retailers
£21.98
4 retailers
Etna
4 retailers
£22.00
4 retailers
Etna
4 retailers
£25.39
4 retailers
Etna
4 retailers
£28.19
Denominations
The appellations where Nerello Mascalese plays a starring role.
Where it grows
Volcanic Nerello on Etna's black terraces, sun-baked Nero d'Avola on the south-east coast, fortified Marsala in Trapani and UNESCO Zibibbo on Pantelleria: Sicily holds Italy's widest single-region wine map.
The terroir
Nerello Mascalese is a grape defined almost entirely by place. Its heartland is the black slopes of Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, where vineyards climb from about 400m to 1,000m over old lava, ash and pumice, and growers name more than 130 individual contrade (crus) the way Burgundians name their climats. From there the grape reaches the north-eastern tip of Sicily and even crosses the strait into the toe of Calabria.
Etna, the north slope
The northern face of the volcano around Randazzo, Passopisciaro and Castiglione di Sicilia, in eastern Sicily
The classic address for red Etna: high, cool contrade on ancient lava flows give the most perfumed, structured and long-lived Nerello, farmed on ash-dark soils and old alberello bush vines.
Faro, above Messina
The hills behind Messina on Sicily's north-eastern tip
A tiny denomination revived by growers like Palari, where Nerello Mascalese leads a blend with Nocera and Nerello Cappuccio for a rounder, sea-cooled take on the grape away from the volcano.
Palizzi, across the strait
The far south of Calabria, on the Ionian coast facing Sicily
Proof the grape travels: in the warm hills around Palizzi, Nerello Mascalese joins Nerello Cappuccio in firm, savoury, deeply coloured reds, a Calabrian cousin to Etna's paler mountain style.
Producers
16 estates on the site work with Nerello Mascalese. Eight at a time, and the line-up changes every week.
Editorial
A little attention to detail lifts the drinking experience. Aim for a serving temperature between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius. A large, tulip-shaped glass lets the finer aromas of the wine express themselves. Is the wine particularly young or tannic? Then consider decanting it for at least 45 minutes to an hour before serving. Once opened, a bottle of Nerello Mascalese keeps for up to 3-5 days. Re-cork it and store it in a cool, dark place. To age this wine, use a well-kept cellar. It will hold the wine in good condition for 5-10 years.
Some of Nerello Mascalese's greatest wines come from ungrafted, own-rooted bush vines more than a century old, planted before phylloxera reached Etna in 1881 and still thriving in volcanic sand too loose for the louse to spread.
The pre-phylloxera vineyards of EtnaThe history of the grape is as rich as its flavour. Some scholars believe Nerello Mascalese made its way to Italy during the Greek colonisation. That was in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. It passed through Calabria first. It then found its permanent home in Sicily during Roman times. It settled in the volcanic soils of Mount Etna. That unique terroir gives the grape its distinctive mineral notes. Wine lovers, British or otherwise, find it fascinating.
The name of the grape is another captivating element. "Nerello" reflects the dark hue of the grape skins. "Mascalese" pays homage to Mascali, a region in Catania where the grape thrives. The soil of Mascali is fertile and volcanic, and the area has a strong farming tradition. Those conditions are ideal, and they seal its status as a beloved local variety.
Nerello Mascalese is highly adaptable, and it mirrors the ground it grows on. That ground is volcanic soil rich in lava. The climate is marked by dramatic temperature shifts. It matures late in the season, usually around the second decade of October. That adds a layer of complexity to its harvest. Despite the dark implication in its name, the grape has a light-blue skin. That makes it easy to tell apart from other varieties.
Local Sicilian growers know Nerello Mascalese by another name: "Niuriddu Mascalisi". So if you ever hear that term, rest assured that it’s our grape in question.
Good to know
No, while Nerello Mascalese is predominantly grown in Sicily - especially around the Etna volcano in the province of Catania - it has also started to make its presence felt in other regions of Italy. In particular, there's growing interest in Calabria. However, its deep-rooted connection with Sicilian terroir makes it a signature grape of the region.
No, Nerello Mascalese is not cultivated in Greece. Though some scholars believe the grape was introduced to Italy during the period of Greek colonization around the 8th-7th century B.C., it has primarily grown in Italy, specifically in Sicily.
Nerello Mascalese is often blended with Nerello Cappuccio, another indigenous Sicilian grape, especially in the Etna Rosso wines. The typical blend comprises at least 80% Nerello Mascalese and up to 20% Nerello Cappuccio.
While Nerello Mascalese wines are increasingly available in specialised wine shops, you can also find them online. If you're keen on trying a tipple, you don't have to fly to Sicily to get a bottle. Above, you will find our curated selection.
Yes, Nerello Mascalese is a late-ripening grape, usually harvested around the second week of October. Its late ripening allows for a long growing season, which contributes to its complex flavor profile.
The grape's ability to adapt to its local environment, especially the volcanic soils of Etna, makes it truly unique. Its wines express a strong sense of place, capturing the essence of the terroir they come from.
Explore by style
Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
Keep exploring
740 wines
31 denominations
