Munjebel Blanc 2021

Munjebel Blanc 2021

Frank Cornelissen

“Our first white wine,” explains Frank Cornelissen of Munjebel Blanc, “started out as an orange wine, fermented on the skins for a long time. I loved the tactile feel and density, but I missed the finesse and precision of classic French white wines from the Loire Valley, for example. With the 2015 vintage, I modified our technique to seek the purity and flavors of Etna, which led us to maintain a short skin maceration period and age our white wines for a long time in the coldest part of our cellar before bottling.” The elegance, purity and density achieved make this wine an ideal companion for a wide variety of dishes and cuisines, from fish to white meats. » The white version of the Munjebel cuvée combines beautiful concentration, freshness and oriental aromas: orange blossom, jasmine, dried apricot. Produced on medium-altitude plots from Grecanico Dorato and Carricante in equal parts, on the Calderara, Borriglione, Crasà and Picciolo plots, Munjebel white is very mature. The vines are over forty years old; the grapes are destemmed, lightly crushed and macerated for about four days. No fining, no sulfiting, light filtration before bottling. This wine will pair with an almost infinite variety of dishes, meat and fish, oysters and shellfish, and all Asian cuisines.

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A great must-have and universally respected figure in natural wine, Frank Cornelissen is a classic. This man of constant questioning lives in human and cosmic resonance with his contrasting terroir: he has demonstrated that the powerful minerality of a great volcanic soil can be highlighted by the naturalness of his wines. The brilliance, the directness and the exquisite fruitiness of his vintages earn him the admiration even of those reluctant to go "natural". They are good initiation wines.
His Sicilian azienda is located in Passopisciaro, in the northern Etna valley. It is, he says, the "Night Coast" of Etna for the great diversity of its wines spread over many locations (contrade) at different altitudes. The climate is continental and harsh, even snowy, in winter, but very warm and sunny from June to September. The altitude gives the wines tension and elegance. The vines coexist with a Mediterranean polyculture: olive trees, almond trees, vegetable gardens... (Frank also produces olive oil). The age of the vines ranges from forty years to over one hundred years. The plots, nineteen in number, on twenty-four hectares in total, are all at altitude, between 600 and 900 meters, on several volcanic flows. They are all vinified separately: Frank decides on the blend based on the quality of the wines from each plot. In general, seven or eight vintages are made in addition to the generic wines (rosé, basic red and white). The soils are made up of different types of basalt, between powder and rock, with perfect drainage that allows for the production of concentrated and fine wines.
Nerello Mascalese dominates the estate's grape varieties. This great traditional red grape variety from the northern valley of Etna is the only grape variety used in the great vintages. Its growing cycle is long, which allows the vine to work the soil and capture its minerality in the fruit. Other grape varieties include: Nerello Capuccio, Minella Bianco, Minella Nera, Alicante Bouschet, Malvasia, Cattaratto, Moscadella, Grecanico Dorato, Carricante…