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Etna 2019 and 2018 – the search for identity

Planeta's Feudo di Mezzo winery in Etna

2018 and 2019, Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir, Burgundy and Barolo: comparisons abound but identity eludes Walter in his latest survey of wines from the 'magic mountain'. Above, Planeta's winery, sited on a fifteenth-century lava flow in the Feudo di Mezzo contrada on the northern slopes of Mount Etna. See this map.

My COVID-induced virtual tour of Etna reviewing the latest releases this June focused on two vintages, 2019 and 2018, each with quite different weather patterns but, in spite of this, not always leading to distinctly different wine styles.

2019 is considered a late-ripening year due to a cold...