Villa Paradiso Etna Bianco 2021

Villa Paradiso is back! If you scored a bottle or two of their fantastic Etna Rosso, you know that this is one of the great wine values in the world, hands down! 93 points, layered, textured, creamy, and mineral white from the high-elevation slopes of an active volcano...yes, please!

Villa Paradiso is one of those mysterious producers we know virtually nothing about. But the wines, each and every time we’ve tasted them, simply blow us away! This wine will rock you to your core – so rich, and mineral, with floral notes of honeysuckle and star jasmine, followed by luscious white peach, and herbal notes of tarragon and fresh cut grass, then salty sea spray, all wrapped up with a substantial spine of chiseled limestone and granite rocks – just a crazy amount going on for an unbelievable price!

Mostly carricante grapes, with a dash of catarratto bianco, all harvested by hand off a 1,950-foot elevated site on the slopes of Mount Etna on the eastern edge of Sicily. The wine is only aged for two months on the lees because these grapes naturally provide a weight and tension that would take over a year plus to develop in a grape-like chardonnay. For most drinkers not familiar with Mount Etna whites, chardonnay is a good baseline reference – but here, think more along the lines of White Burgundy, as this wine balances the weight and minerality of an oak-aged Chablis. This will certainly age like a champ – 7-10 years of prime drinkability yet, but oh-so-very pleasing in the here and now. Enjoy this with food – the high acidity, the floral tones, the rich viscosity, the mineral vein...it just works on so many levels. This is better than good. Monumental. Back up the truck on this one, folks. WOW!