2020 Vigna Grande

Peter Vinding-Diers’ 2022s are coming along beautifully. They are still in barrel yet already so expressive and a departure from the typical house style. Vinding-Diers explained, “2022 was a very hot year here, and my son Hans Vinding-Diers, who owns Noemia in Patagonia, suggested that I should try and vinify a little earlier in order to get some fresher wines.” Frankly, the results are compelling, placing these wines somewhere between the Northern Rhône and Burgundy in style, with lower alcohols (around 12%) and lower residual sugars. I, for one, am enjoying both immensely. As for 2021, no wine will be bottled as a fire that burned 500 hectares only three kilometers away badly affected the wines with smoke taint. Ultimately, Vinding Montecarrubo remains one of my top picks for Italian, not just Sicilian, Syrah.

My recent tastings of Peter Vinding-Diers’ Montecarrubo wines really showed the potential of these vineyards, which he planted just over a decade ago. Now, viewing the 2020 vintage, showcasing vines that were, at the time ten-years-old, is starting to reveal further complexity, but also transparency of terroir. The one-hectare Vigna Grande and the three-hectare Vignolo are only a hundred meters apart from each other, yet they yield completely different expressions. What’s more, the Special Edition of the Vigna Grande, from a micro parcel of Syrah vines planted in the remains of a coral reef, was even more finely sculpted, and with a northern Rhone-like character that captivates (imagine a 12.5% Syrah from southern Sicily). I had the opportunity to follow the Syrahs over the course of two days, which was a total pleasure. Also of note is the Scherzo, a Pomerol-style blend consisting of 66% Merlot and 34% Cabernet Franc, all refined in second- and third-pass French oak. It’s a playful take on these varieties, but with the balance for a steady evolution in the cellar. Montecarrubo is, without a doubt, a property and project to watch in Sicily.