Frank Cornelissen Six bottle collection: The Contrade of Etna

This six bottle collection is a focused journey through six single-site expressions of Nerello Mascalese from the northern valley of Etna. Rather than presenting a broad overview of the estate, it narrows the lens to one grape and six distinct places, allowing the language of each contrada to emerge with crystal clear clarity.

Frank Cornelissen’s work on Etna is built around the idea that the volcano is not one terroir, but many. Altitude, exposure, lava flow, soil depth, old terraces and the age of the vines all shape the wines differently, even when the grape and cellar work remain essentially the same. In this case, each bottle is 100% Nerello Mascalese, allowing site rather than blend to drive the identity of the wine.

In Sicily, a contrada is more than a place name. It is a historically recognised vineyard zone, often defined over generations by its own soil profile, exposure, elevation and reputation. In practical terms, a contrada on Etna functions much like a cru: a named site whose individuality is strong enough to give a wine a recognisable personality from one bottling to the next. in this rare selection, we have:

VA – Vigne Alte is a cuvée drawn from Cornelissen’s three highest vineyards: Tartaraci, Rampante Soprana and Barbabecchi. Old, often ungrafted vines from high terraces give the wine precision, fragrance and a lifted, finely detailed structure.

PA – Porcaria comes from old alberello vines in Contrada Feudo di Mezzo, at around 640 metres above sea level. It is one of Etna’s best-known sites, combining ripeness, drive and structure in a way that gives the wine both authority and finesse.

MC – Monte Colla comes from a steep, terraced vineyard beautifully exposed to sun and wind. The site’s sandy clay soils and old vines produce a wine of breadth and substance, while retaining the lifted, volcanic edge that keeps the wine in tension.

FM – Feudo di Mezzo Sottana is rooted in a lower-lying section of Feudo di Mezzo, around 580 metres. It tends to show the open, expressive side of Etna: red fruit, floral notes, freshness and a clear sense of volcanic mineral detail.

CS – Chiusa Spagnolo comes from an ungrafted vineyard in the Zottorinoto area, set in a natural amphitheatre surrounded by lava. The site gives a more profound, firmly structured wine, with deeper tannic authority and the capacity to unfold slowly over time.

CR – Campo Re comes from a partly ungrafted vineyard on the far western side near the entrance of Randazzo. Its deeper soils and cooler position shape a wine of gravity, structure and persistence, with a serious, long-lived profile.

Together, these six bottles offer a rare chance to understand Etna through site rather than style alone. The cellar approach remains intentionally transparent, so what changes from bottle to bottle is not the hand of the producer, but the voice of each vineyard.

Included:

1 × Frank Cornelissen ‘Munjebel VA’ 2020
1 × Frank Cornelissen ‘Munjebel PA’ 2020
1 × Frank Cornelissen ‘Munjebel MC’ 2020
1 × Frank Cornelissen ‘Munjebel FM’ 2020
1 × Frank Cornelissen ‘Munjebel CS’ 2020
1 × Frank Cornelissen ‘Munjebel CR’ 2020

*10% discount for purchases of 12 bottles or more does not apply to our 6 and 12 bottle collections as already discounted