Enthused by our very enjoyable visit to Gambino Vini I couldn’t quite settle to the prospect of spending the following day at the beach (as had been agreed with everyone!). Some years ago I watched the BBC series, “Sicily Unpacked”, featuring Andrew Graham Dixon (art historian) and Georgio Locatelli (Michelin starred chef) and I had made a note to myself that I wanted to visit a vineyard that featured in that series; Biondi, situated on the south eastern slopes of Mount Etna (altitude between around 640 and 700 metres above sea level). I found their website, sent a message late afternoon / early evening and resigned myself to the prospect of a missed opportunity and berated myself for not having been more organised (I had managed to book the Gambino visit in advance of arriving in Sicily).
Well, as luck would have it, I got a very speedy reply from Stef Biondi saying that we could go for a visit and a tasting the following day. And what a great visit we had! We arrived to a pretty modest looking place in what felt a little bit like the back of beyond. No fancy signs (just a little one), no fancy gates (just some rather haphazard, rusty old things), no real indication that there was very much going on there at all! Then we were greeted by Stef, and Ciro (and Arthur, the dog!) arrived soon after. The fun began and it was super interesting too.
Biondi is a tiny producer (about 23,000 bottles a year) and has three parcels of vineyards; Chianta, Cisterna Fuori and San Nicolo’. They are all close to each other and we began by visiting the Chianta parcel, sloping up the side of a spent volcanic crater with vines planted in terraces. Some decades previously Ciro’s great grandfather (I think) installed stone steps up the hill in the centre of the vineyard to make access to the vines easier. We walked up those steps to the top to look over the crest of the hill into the crater on the other side (quite a big feat in near 40 degree heat and a pair of Birks!). It was fascinating that as we climbed higher the soil changed quite noticeably. On the lower slope the soil was very dark and powdery (and my filthy feet and legs later proved that!) but at the top of the slope the soil became stonier and more red in colour. It was a real treat to look back over the vineyard from that high vantage point and to the sea beyond.
We then visited Cisterna Fuori where there is a covered terrace in the middle of the vineyard where wine tasting sometimes takes place (and where Ciro and Stef had entertained Andrew GD and Georgio L). However, it was too hot there for wine tasting on the day we visited so we tasted four of the Biondi wines and had fantastic bread, cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and other local goodies in the Palmento, the upstairs of a glorious, faded red painted house standing in the grounds of the vineyard. And it was, thankfully, cool! We tasted the following Etna DOC wines (sadly there was no San Nicolo available):
Outis Bianco 2016, a wine made predominantly from carricante (90%). Pale in colour, fresh and mineral and lightly fruity with good minerality.
Chianta 2015, again, predominantly carricante, but this time a much more yellow colour with definite floral aromas. I got a hint of tropical fruit too (pineapple and mango). This was my personal favourite of the day so I had to bring a bottle home (sadly they don’t have shipping facilities otherwise I would have ordered a box or two)!
Outis Rosso 2015, largely nerello mascalese but with about 20% nerello cappuccio from vines upwards of about 40 years old. A light to medium coloured red wine (redolent of a pinot noir), flavours of red and black fruit and an elegant finish. This is one we also really enjoyed (and brought a bottle home!).
Cisterna Fuori 2011, another nerello mascalese and nerello cappucio blend (80 / 20) from slightly younger vines (about 30 years old on average). Darker in colour and slightly heavier on the darker fruit, but still mineral and elegant. This wine had the benefit of age being 6 years old at the time of tasting.
What made this trip so special was the fact that we were there by ourselves and Ciro and Stef were both enormously friendly and very attentive. The whole visit was one long simple pleasure, strolling around the vineyards, sitting in the covered terrace and chatting with Ciro and getting a real sense of where their wines come from and the philosophy they adopt in the production of their wine. We heard about the history of the family and how the vineyards that now produce such fabulous wines were moreorless abandoned and derelict when Stef and Ciro took the decision to start making wine again on Etna in 1999. There was just a small proportion of vines that were salvageable at that time and so production was really minute to begin with. Over time they have replaced vines, acquired small additional parcels of land (last year they added to the San Nicolo parcel) and increased production. Our tasting was very informal and friendly and I’m sure we probably outstayed our welcome given that they had people coming for dinner!
It is unfair to compare one tasting with another (we had been to another vineyard the previous day, see last post), especially when they are so completely different and both thoroughly enjoyable. However, there really is something magical about walking through the vines, chatting with the vignerons and having the place all to ourselves. This will definitely stay in my memory for a long time and I very much hope that we shall visit again.
And having given my wine tasting itch a really good scratch, the following day we went to the beach …