2017 Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore Pietra Marina DOC, Sicily

From the head-trained vines of Milo, the only area for which the Superiore designation can be used for Carricante. Straw yellow with bright greenish reflections, this has refined aromas of orange blossom, thyme, hay, ripe apple and flint hints. It's taut and vertical, with a savoury finish and remarkable persistence. Sharp, expressive purity.

96 points decanter.com

Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore Pietra Marina DOC is one of Italy’s great white wines and a profound expression of Mount Etna’s northern slopes, grown high on the volcano around the hamlet of Milo where cool temperatures, dramatic elevation and ancient lava soils shape wines of remarkable tension and longevity. This is the only zone on Etna entitled to the Superiore designation for white wine, and Pietra Marina comes from old bush vines rooted in decomposed basalt, ash and volcanic rock that naturally limit yields and drive intense mineral character. Benanti is the modern pioneer of Etna wine, reviving ancient vineyards and championing Carricante when few believed in its potential, and Pietra Marina stands as their purest and most age worthy statement, produced only in the best years and released after extended bottle aging.

In the glass the wine shows a luminous pale gold, opening with complex aromas of lemon zest, green apple, white flowers, fennel, wet stone and a distinctive salty, smoky note that speaks unmistakably of Etna’s volcanic soils. The palate is powerful yet precise, layering citrus, orchard fruit and subtle herbal notes around a firm spine of acidity and a long, stony, almost saline finish. Despite its intensity, the wine feels light on its feet and incredibly refined, built not for immediacy but for evolution. With time it develops extraordinary complexity, moving toward beeswax, honey, almond and smoky mineral tones, and it can comfortably age for twenty years or more. At the table it is superb with seafood, shellfish, grilled fish, pasta with herbs, poultry and dishes that echo its natural salinity and freshness.