Frank Cornelissen Susucaru Rosso Mag 2018

Frank Cornelissen's Susucaru Rosso is a field blend sourced from six contradas on Etna's northern valley: Picciolo, Malpasso, Campo Re, Crasà, Piano Daini, and Feudo di Mezzo. The blend is approximately 85% Nerello Mascalese with Nerello Capuccio, Alicante Bouschet, Minella, and Uva Francesa filling out the rest. Vines are trained in the traditional Sicilian alberello (bush vine) system on volcanic basalt soils. The wine is bottled under the Terre Siciliane IGT designation; Cornelissen deliberately avoids the Etna DOC classification.

Fermentation begins with a pied-de-cuve using only indigenous yeasts, followed by roughly 30 days of skin contact. The wine ages in neutral epoxy tanks ranging from 2,500 to 7,000 liters. No sulfur dioxide is added at any point, and the wine is bottled unfined with only light filtration.

The 2018 vintage shows light ruby with a slightly translucent core. On the nose: fresh raspberry, blood orange, and a thread of black pepper and licorice. The palate is dry with bright, high acidity, fine-grained tannins, and a long mineral finish. This is a 1.5L magnum format, which provides exceptional aging potential and slower development than the standard bottle.

Susucaru is Cornelissen's entry-level red and the most approachable wine in his range, built to express Etna's multi-contrada character rather than a single vineyard site. It previously appeared as Rosso del Contadino before the rename in 2016.