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. JRG.
"Fast forward nearly a decade and Frank Cornelissen has become famous. He is regarded as the new-movement leader of the artisanal/hyper BIO movement in Italy with countless (obsessive?) wannabe’s throughout Europe. His eccentric take on Nerello Mascalese has influenced and inspired so many winemakers around the world that I’ve lost count - all for wine that remains as controversial as it was the first time I tasted it. Which brings us to the first release of the year: Susucaru 3 – a rosato (rosé) from the 2010 vintage that is as wise and studied as any wine Frank has yet made. It’s an example that has become a symbol of freedom to the wine-world, held up as a trophy of sorts for the wine geek faithful the way a cult Cabernet or First Growth is to big-money collectors. The Susucaru 3 is alive in more ways than one and it takes the patience of an experimentalist . . . . From a lightly red colored free-run field blend of indigenous Etna varietals, those of you new to the experience will be floored with the first whiff (literally, you may fall to the floor). Damask rose sprinkled over the essence of clove-studded orange rind - a nice dose of holiday ham is thrown in for good measure and the naturally viscous mouthfeel is something to behold. There is so much going on here that descriptors really cannot wrap their words around the experience. With air, a tawny quality emerges on the back end giving further intrigue to a wine that hardly needs additional help. As the evening progresses, the robust acidity and textural presence unfolds and act like magnets to your sense of curiosity. Only Frank Cornelissen could produce something like this and walk away the heavyweight champion in the form of a welterweight. A wine that triggers the imagination and never apologizes for dreaming the day away – it begs us to dig just a bit deeper, to find a place where preconception is removed from the vocabulary . . . . Sterile wine people or those that refuse to be challenged by anything but the accepted norm should stay away – why bother being exposed to anything new when the status quo is so much easier?" Jon Rimmerman, GaragisteWine.com, 5/17/2011 |