Frank Cornelissen MunJebel 2022

Frank Cornelissen is one of the most influential — and most polarising — figures in natural wine. The son of a Belgian wine broker, he arrived on Mount Etna in 2001, when the volcano was still essentially undiscovered as serious wine territory, and set about proving that its ancient, ungrafted vines deserved global attention. His estate now spans roughly 24 hectares around Solicchiata, in the Northern Valley — an area now widely considered Etna's finest for single-vineyard, or "contrada," reds — worked without herbicides, pesticides, or synthetic chemicals, and with occasional biodynamic treatments applied intuitively rather than by fixed calendar. Yields are kept punishingly low, sometimes as little as 300 to 600 grams of fruit per vine on the top sites. MunJebel Rosso "Classico" is 100% Nerello Mascalese, blended from several of the estate's vineyards — including portions from the same prized parcels (Zottorinoto-Chiusa Spagnolo, Feudo di Mezzo-Porcaria, Pontale Palino) that go into Cornelissen's more expensive single-vineyard crus, alongside fruit from designated sites specific to this bottling — fermented on indigenous yeasts, aged in neutral vessels with no oak whatsoever, and bottled with minimal intervention throughout.

The result is Cornelissen's own description of "a classic, traditional Nerello Mascalese with tannins and sweetness of ripe fruit" — his vision of a balanced, rich expression of the Northern Valley. Expect wild macerated berries, cherry, and plum meeting medicinal herbs, black peppercorn, and a distinct volcanic minerality and smoke, full-bodied and rich rather than delicate.