An interesting new project situated at 850-900m above sea level in the Panella-Petto Dragone contrada in Linguaglossa, on Etna’s north slope is Blindspot Vineyard, founded by Matt & Carolyn Burghoff. This 2022 is the first vintage, just 700 bottles of field-blend Nerello Mascalese & other local varieties vinified in stainless steel and aged in amphora. Super bright & juicy, it features fragrant sour cherry & promegranate, with cleansing acidity & fine tannins. A positive first step, this is one to follow — James Button Decanter Magazine

In the summer of 2021, Matt Burghoff opened a bottle of Etna Rosso that changed his life. It was so delicious that that autumn he flew to the mountain & bought a small farm on the north-east slope in Contrada Panella-Petto Dragone, which extends from 850-900 meters above sea level. Today, Punto Cieco (www.blindspotvineyard.com) produces an extremely limited quanity of elegant Etna Rosso from old vines and new plantings of Etna’s traditional white grapes. As the name suggests, you may not be able to see the estate from the road, but the Wines are worth seeking out—Benjamin North Spencer The New Wines of Mt. Etna

Organic, minimally processed, hand-harvested, 90% field-blended Nerello Mascalese (prized for its ability to express a soil’s character) + 10% other indigenous Etna varietals aged in oak, steel, & amphora result in a wine with fresh acidity, brightness, a slight flinty minerality and just enough softness from the oak to round things out. Light-bodied and full of red fruit, with nudges of dried herbs, cinnamon bark and light smoke, it’s elegant and crisp with soft tannins and a nuanced and layered finish.

Yum.

This is one of those wines that made my heart flutter, and really – isn’t that the effect that you want wine to have?