2021 Munjebel Rosso CR
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2021 MunJebel Rosso CR is more savory and comes from Campo Re and the deep soils of a vineyard that can thrive in dry vintages. Opening with notes of cardamom, it has a bright, refreshing spine of acidity with a lot of energy behind it. It’s long and savory on the palate, with saltiness and a note of orange citrus. This was my first visit to the cellar of Frank Cornelissen, located in the northern valley of Etna, and I am already looking forward to my next visit. In this cellar, there’s no oak, and everything is aged in fiberglass tanks. It doesn’t take long to realize the numerous pitfalls imitators might face in trying to mimic this winemaking style. While on paper the winemaking might sound hands-off or cavalier, nothing could be further from the truth. Frank Cornelissen may very well be one of the most exacting and hardest-working winemakers I have met to date. He has thought everything through, and nothing is off-limits to analyze, improve on, and correct. There’s more to be said about all this, but for the time being, I’ll just say that my expectations were blown out of the water by these wines, which have a precision and detail that raises the bar both intellectually and hedonistically. Now isn’t that what great wines should be all about?
Critic scores
Average Score
Eric Guido, Vinous
Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com
More reviews and scores
The 2021 Rosso Munjebel CR is coy in the glass yet remarkably pretty, showing nuances of dried black cherry, mint and violet. This is round and graceful in the mouth, with a lifted mix of ripe blackberry and citrus tones that swirl beneath an air of lavender pastille. It leaves a pleasantly chewy sensation of liquid stones and fine-grained tannins while remaining quite fresh on the long finish. The 2021 steps lightly yet has a huge impact.