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Nerello Mascalese grown at 700-800 m around Solicchiata on Etna's north slope: pale ruby, sour cherry and strawberry over smoky volcanic stone, taut acidity and fine savoury tannins. Three months in oak keeps it fragrant and food-ready.
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Grown between 700 and 800 metres at Solicchiata and given a two-week maceration and three months in light-toast oak, this is Pietradolce's statement of how fragrant pure Nerello Mascalese can be.
Sour cherry and strawberry lead, the red-fruit register 446 of 919 Vivino reviewers flag first, over the smoke and wet-stone signature of Solicchiata's volcanic sands. Pietradolce's own note adds the floral side: violet and dried rose lift the fruit rather than sweeten it.
Smoky
Orange peel
Violet
Cherry
Raspberry
Strawberry
Tobacco
Wet stones
Black pepperTaut and energetic, exactly what a 700-800 m north-slope site gives: Etna DOC demands at least 5 g/l acidity and this wine wears it brightly. A roughly two-week maceration in the estate's 40 hl concrete vats builds fine, savoury tannin without weight; The Wine Society calls the frame medium-bodied with a ferrous mineral undertow.
White pepper and orange peel edge the close, with three months in light-toast oak leaving polish rather than flavour, as the estate intends. Tannins grip gently and the stony, saline note lingers longest.
The entry point to Pietradolce's range, below the old-vine Archineri and the contrada crus, and the Vivino crowd backs it at 3.8 from 4,184 ratings, with the 2021 touching 4.0. Drinkers consistently praise its Pinot-like elegance and volcanic edge; the few gripes are that it needs food or an hour open, which is fair. Drink within about five years of harvest.
Three retailers currently list it, from £16.72 for the 2024. The Wine Society's £22 price for the same vintage is the benchmark to beat.
Six dimensions scored from the live £16.72-26.05 listings, the Etna DOC disciplinare and the wine's taut, food-first structure.
Disciplinare-minimum 5 g/l acidity plus fine volcanic tannin spans tomato, mushroom, cheese and lamb, the full Etna Rosso table range.
A pure, fragrant expression of indigenous Nerello Mascalese often likened to Pinot Noir; just expect pale colour and brisk acidity as part of the Etna style.
price_aggregate is empty, so benchmarked editorially on live listings: £16.72-26.05 here against roughly £22 for UK entry Etna Rosso (The Wine Society lists Pietradolce's 2024 at £22), so the floor price undercuts the market.
A £16.72 floor price and fragrant, food-first profile make a weeknight red; docked because two of three current listings sit above £20.
Base Etna DOC carries no ageing mandate (only the riserva needs 4 years) and sees just 3 months of oak; The Wine Society brackets the 2023 to 2028, so 3-5 years is the window.
Etna DOC prestige is rising but this is the estate's entry tier; Pietradolce's Archineri and contrada crus carry the big-night weight.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Etna denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Etna growers call 2021 a model year; 2023 lost over 40% of the Sicilian crop to mildew and drinks lighter; drought-clipped 2024 is fresh, fragrant and promising.
A hot, drought-marked Etna season that cut Nerello Mascalese yields sharply, though the region's old alberello vines coped well. The wine is fragrant and fresh in the house style; drink it young while the 2021s rest.
Downy mildew slashed Sicilian production by around 42% in 2023 and Nerello Mascalese was hit hardest, giving lighter-framed wines. Pietradolce's north-slope fruit kept its poise: The Wine Society brackets this vintage as drinking now to 2028.
A hot, drought-marked Etna season that cut Nerello Mascalese yields sharply, though the region's old alberello vines coped well. The wine is fragrant and fresh in the house style; drink it young while the 2021s rest.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
The disciplinare caps yields at 9 tonnes per hectare, demands 5 g/l acidity and requires only 80% Nerello Mascalese; Pietradolce bottles it pure.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Etna is in the DOC tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Etna falls within Sicily, covering Parts of 20 communes on the slopes of Mount Etna, all in the province of Catania. The denomination is further divided into 4 sub-zones.
Wine route
2 days · 8 stops
Open the drive
Winery
Solicchiata
Made at Pietradolce, Solicchiata. Directions
Wine route in the zone: Strada del Vino dell'Etna.
Pietradolce harvests by hand at Solicchiata in October on terraced volcanic soils; mountain viticulture at this altitude costs far more per bottle than flatland Sicilian farming.
The disciplinare caps crops at 9 tonnes per hectare, and real yields fell far below it when mildew (2023) then drought (2024) cut Nerello Mascalese harvests by over half, tightening supply.
A short, light-toast barrel spell against 14 months in tonneaux for the estate's Rampante cru keeps cellar time and barrel spend low; that gap is why this bottle sells near £17-26 while the crus pass £45.
HMRC duty of £2.67 on a still wine up to 15% plus 20% VAT accounts for about £5.46 of the £16.72 headline price on the cheapest live listing.
The Faro family farm 30 ha across four contrade plus 2 ha at Milo, backed by their Piante Faro nursery business; that scale is rare on Etna and keeps the entry wine accessible.
Dishes that go with this wine
Catania's own pasta alla Norma is the home fixture; the same taut acidity and fine tannin carry mushroom risotto, salumi and pink lamb.
Etna DOC guarantees at least 5 g/l of acidity, and this wine's taut, sour-cherry attack matches tomato's sharpness instead of fighting it, while fine tannin handles fried aubergine's fat. Pasta alla Norma was born in Catania, in this wine's own province.
Try with: Pasta alla Norma · Arancini · Sfincione, Sicilian Pizza · More pairings →
The smoke, forest-floor and wet-stone aromas that 328 Vivino reviewers report bridge straight into mushroom umami and roasting juices. It is the same logic that puts Pinot Noir with game birds; Nerello Mascalese at 800 m plays the volcanic version.
Try with: Porcini mushroom risotto · Roast chicken · Lamb shank
Lamb's sweet fat and protein round off the wine's fine-grained, savoury tannin, the grip The Wine Society notes on the finish. Medium body means the meat never overwhelms the wine's herb and pepper detail.
Try with: Lamb chops · Rack of lamb · Leg of lamb · More pairings →
Bright volcanic acidity scrubs the palate after salty sheep's cheese, cured pork fat or a breadcrumbed cutlet, and the wine's salt-tolerant, low-oak profile keeps the salumi board tasting of itself.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Cheese board · Cotoletta alla bolognese · More pairings →
A medium-bodied red with lift suits long-simmered meat sauces better than a heavyweight: the 8wines buyer note points this wine at pasta with rich ragu, where acidity refreshes each forkful and body stays in step with the sauce.
Try with: Ragu alla bolognese · Agnello Ragu Lucano · More pairings →
Capsaicin amplifies the firm acidity and fine tannin into bitterness, and sugary glazes strip the delicate red fruit: a taut 5 g/l-acid Nerello has no residual sugar to buffer either. Pour a fruitier, softer style with these plates.
Skip with: Chicken madras · Chicken jalfrezi · Szechuan chicken · Sweet and sour chicken · Pairing guide →
A three-to-five-year wine: The Wine Society brackets the 2023 to 2028. The estate's Archineri and contrada crus are the ones built for the long haul.
Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Base Etna DOC carries no ageing mandate (only the riserva needs 4 years) and sees just 3 months of oak; The Wine Society brackets the 2023 to 2028, so 3-5 years is the window.
£20.10 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 13 Sep 2026, 01:31 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumPale ruby with sour cherry, strawberry and a smoky wet-stone edge, then taut acidity, fine savoury tannins and a white-pepper, orange-peel finish. The estate's three months of light-toast oak adds polish rather than oak flavour, so the volcanic fruit stays in front.
It is 100% Nerello Mascalese, grown at 700-800 m around Solicchiata on Etna's north slope. Etna DOC rules only require 80%, with up to 20% Nerello Cappuccio permitted, so a pure Mascalese like this is a stylistic choice by the Faro family.
Pasta alla Norma, porcini mushroom risotto, arancini, salumi and grilled lamb served pink. Its bright acidity suits tomato and fried aubergine, while the earthy, smoky side bridges to mushrooms and roast meats; avoid hot chilli dishes, which clash with the firm acid and tannin.
Drink it within about five years of the vintage: The Wine Society brackets the 2023 as drinking now to 2028. The exceptional 2021 has the stuffing to reach 2027; for longer cellaring step up to the Archineri or contrada bottlings.
Live listings on this page run from £16.72 to £26.05 a bottle. As a reference, The Wine Society sold the 2024 at £22, so anything under £20 is sharp for this label.
The 2021 is the stronger vintage: a cool, classic season that Etna growers cite as a model year, rated 4.0 by 338 Vivino drinkers. The 2023 is lighter after a mildew-hit harvest that cut Sicilian yields by around 42%, but it kept its poise and drinks well now.
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