It’s 2024 and not only have we secured the newest vintages from the volcanic slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna, but there’s a new hotness among them from the Godfather of Natural Wines: Frank Cornelissen’s Susucaro Rosso 2022! Produced with the same thought process and vinification techniques that’s made Frank’s other wines an organic icon of the winemaking industry, we’re very excited to introduce this new icon to the New Zealand market.

For anyone that’s watched The White Lotus Season 2, you’ll know how beautiful active stratovolcano Mt Etna is, and how it dominates the landscape with its ever-steaming activity. On its slopes, beneath the glow of molten rock is where you’ll find Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen, led by – you guessed it – Frank Cornelissen. Here, they grow grapes, olives and forage for juniper berries for winter stews (it’s like a lava-tinged Disney scene).

Robin Lee sums Frank up nicely, and we’ve blogged extensively about this humble icon before, which you can read here:

• Oct 2023: New Year, New Frank
• May 2023: Red Hot ‘n’ Smokin’
• May 2020: Too HOT to Handle

But for those not wanting to go down a click rabbit-hole, let’s summarise…

When the Belgian ex-fine wine dealer came to Etna in 2001, his vision was that this is one of the few locations on Earth where wine could be made without any manipulation. He purchased old vines that had been planted during the Phylloxera crisis (which couldn’t survive in the volcanic soils here).

Mistakes were made as he learned along the way, but with time, the style of Frank Cornelissen became renowned. His hands-off approach was deemed extreme, even by his own standards and he admits that perhaps he took it a little too far sometimes. “My wines used to be anti-wines,” admits Cornelissen. His initial philosophy was never to use sulphur dioxide (SO²) in his wines. In every wine making decision, his aim was for absolute purity. His uncompromising and often extreme, (but always creative) visionary efforts to maintain the highest level of cellar hygiene without using SO² made him an idol of the natural wine world. However, over the past 22 years, trailblazing Cornelissen has needed to evolve. He has modified his thinking and methodology of this earlier philosophy.

Still today, this is a winery that practises non-interventionist principles across their twenty-four hectares and eschews overhandling of the wines in the winery and cellar. However, there have been a number of changes to the process, including the fact he’s now using minimal amounts of SO² during racking and before bottling. “Quality- focused with natural being the inspiration, not the destination” explains Jancis Robinson MW.

In a profile by Jancis Robinson, Cornelissen confessed that “2015 was my learning vintage that showed me the limit [of non intervention]. 2018 showed that I should have added a little SO² to 2015. 2017 was OK but 2018 really needed the SO². It was 2018 that changed my mind about SO². I’m very happy with the new technique, and 2020 is where I really want to get to. 2019 was deceptive. The fruit was very, very clean but we still needed the sorting table because there was a lot of variation. 2018 though was really difficult.” 

Our newest shipment of Frank Cornelissen wines includes a wave of goodies from the 2020 vintage, as well as a new gem – Susucaru® Rosso – from 2022.

Every year, Frank releases a vintage report. For the 2020 wines, he’s dubbed the vintage officially ‘Great’:

The Susucaru® wines are the entry-level range from Frank, and after the roaring success of the Rosato (which we almost have to hide from our DN staff) we’re super excited to add the Rosso to the lineup.

Magma® is Frank Cornelissen’s top cuvée, their “Grand Vin” and is produced only in great vintages where they achieve phenolic ripeness. Hailing from the Barbabecchi vineyard at 910m. asl. Planted around 1910 and North-North East exposed, capturing the first and cool morning sun rays. A profound wine, rich as well as elegant, with character, personality and great finesse. Vinification starts with a “pied-de-cuve” using only indigenous yeasts and skin contact for about 50 days before aging in neutral epoxy tanks 1500-2500 liters for 18 months and another 18 months in bottle. Annual production in the years it’s produced is around 2,000 bottles.

Bottles are hand-painted and to combat the increasing risk of counterfeit bottles, since 2016, Magma® has an NFC chip integrated into the label of each bottle which contains information regarding the authenticity of the wine.

In addition to the microchip, Magma® uses unique Ardeaseal closures on the bottles and magnums, further guaranteeing authenticity as these patented closures are manufactured in only one factory in the world.

The Classic MunJebel Rosso is Frank’s vision of a traditional, balanced and rich Northern Valley Etna wine. A rich and fragrant wine of pure Nerello Mascalese from different vineyards, partly from their best parcels where we produce our crus (Zottorinoto-Chiusa Spagnolo, Feudo di Mezzo-sottana and Porcaria) as well as designated vineyards for this specific wine (Rampante Sottana, Piano Daini and Crasà).