Villa Paradiso Etna Rosso 2020

95 POINTS...UNDER $20?!? Fuhgettaboutit!!! This Sicilian stunner has us absolutely reeling. From the black earth slopes of Mount Etna, this is an Italian wine not to be missed. Great with food, great anytime over the next 7+ years...just a treat.

You probably know by now, but mountain wines are tried and true favorites of ours. High elevation, meager soils, limited yields of hyper-concentrated, ethereal, and intense monsters that smack your taste buds in a hurts-so-good sort of way – to be drunk now and years from now. Just epic. 

Up at 2,000 feet, on the steep volcanic terraces of a VERY active volcano – this is ETNA ROSSO! The grapes you’ve likely never heard of...90% nerello mascalese and 10% nerello cappuccio – both local varieties that essentially don’t exist off the island. The wines made there are like nowhere else… the red floral notes of Burgundy, the savory meatiness and black and blue fruits of Northern Rhone, underscored by the inky, iron, and graphite minerality of Bordeaux...all in perfect, supple harmony. By the by, I just described three of the most famous (and most expensive) wine-producing regions in the world...but THIS! Less than TWENTY DOLLARS!! Let’s GOOOOO!

95 POINTS and worth every. single. one. We know virtually nothing about the producer – but really, who cares? We tasted this a few months back, and it absolutely blew our minds. This wine will rock you to your core – so rich and minerally, high-toned, yet substantial – low alcohol but warming and spicy instead of cool and thin. How? No idea. Aromas of candied violets, espresso, and dusty roses...flavors of black cherries, ripe peaches, dragonfruit, blackberry compote, with accents of spearmint, iron-ore, black pepper – just SO MUCH stuff going on...all of it good. Better than good. Monumental. Back up the truck on this one, folks. WOW!