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Frank Cornelissen

Frank Cornelissen is one of the most original viticulturists working anywhere on the planet. That he is making internationally noteworthy wines on some of the steepest northern slopes of Sicily’s active volcano, Mt. Etna, is only part of what makes him so singular. His farming philosophy mandates stunningly low yields from ungrafted, 100-year-old vines, and his viticultural practices push the boundaries of “natural” and “hands-off” winemaking into new territory. His wines are unapologetically unfiltered and he adds no sulfites. His reds are aged in large, clay amphorae that harken back to winemaking of the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians. His whites are aged in big plastic containers to avoid any flavors from barrels. Cornelissen, a self-taught winemaker, is Belgian by birth and has been farming 30 acres of vineyards, and a few additional acres of olive orchards, only since the early 2000s. He grows indigenous red and white grapes, and his signature wine is the Magma Rosso made of 100% Nerello Mascalese from vines that are at least 100 years old. Most of his reds are part or entirely Nerello Mascalese. His whites are blends of Grecanico Dorato, Carricante and Coda di Volpe. Among Cornelissen’s many idiosyncrasies are labels that can change from year to year – he currently seems to favor black, information-heavy labels featuring retro fonts – and in some years he declines to put the vintage on his bottles, naming them “editions” instead. Nevertheless, he has earned a cult following. Matt Kramer of Wine Spectator has called Cornelissen, with admiration, a member of the “Crazy Club.” Kramer wrote: “Winegrowers like Mr. Cornelissen are now stretching our understanding of “greatness.” Mr. Cornelissen’s best red wine, Magma, is like no other version of Nerello Mascalese, nor any other red wine of my experience. It does deliver the complexity and characterfulness conventionally understood as a prerequisite to the acclamation “great.”

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