Ashy, sulfurous tonality of fruit with engaging earthy, savory berries, dried blood orange, dried meat, nori, white pepper and tar. Really intense, ripe and concentrated in flavor with a broad, full body. Paradoxically, there is very little heft. The tannins are abundant, fibrous and mealy. A great deal of depth and complexity here, too. Better in two to three years.

It's hard not to be moved by the extraordinary 2014 Etna Rosso Vigna Barbagalli. This wine is soaring in character and quality and is fast on its route to becoming one of the icons of vino Italiano. It's hard to know where to start. Many great Etna reds are Burgundian in character, but oddly, this wine appears more Bordelaise, especially in this excellent vintage. The wine is beautifully conditioned and fine, yet it is exuberant and fruit forward at the same time. It opens to delicate aromas of dried flowers, spice, wild berry and black currant. The tannins are extremely well managed and they appear silky and firm on the close. The wine has all the right qualities, from acidity to pristine primary fruit, to promise a long aging window.

Here is one of my favorite Etna overachievers. The 2013 Etna Rosso Vigna Barbagalli was born in a more-challenging vintage here on the volcano, but it sails smoothly through any possible weakness. This is a magnificent expression from Southern Italy. The wine has the mild consistency and light garnet color of a Burgundian Pinot Noir. But the bouquet is anything but understated. It delivers powerful aromas of wild berry, balsam herb, licorice and those distinctive touches of volcano ash. In the mouth, the wine shows smooth and long silkiness. This is a magnificent red wine from Etna. Only 2,500 bottles were made.

When grapevines die and go to heaven, they wake-up in Pietradolce's Barbagalli vineyard. I have only ever seen a handful of vineyards as beautiful as this spectacular terrestrial handshake between man and volcano. The 2012 Etna Rosso Vigna Barbagalli faithfully reflects the esthetic grandeur of this amphitheater of pre-phylloxera vines planted 900 meters up Etna's blackened slope. On average, these knotted plants are more than 100-years-old. The wine opens to amazing intensity and purity with an enormous sense of integrity and balance. Dark berry fruit segues slowly to spice, leather, balsam herb and crushed mineral as the wine evolves in the glass. The wine's finish is long and determined. Vigna Barbagalli is a revelation if you are looking for a reason to fall in love with Etna.

The 2011 Etna Rosso Vigna Barbagalli was a difficult wine for me to score given the wide bottle variation I encountered. Fruit is sourced from 100-year-old vines planted without rootstock on the northern slopes of Etna at 900 meters above sea level. The wine is not completely transparent and the aromas take a few moments of aeration before they develop. There is dried fruit, cassis, mineral, ash, pressed rose petal and dusty earth. Dry tannins form a firm backbone that holds the wine together. It might just need a few years in the cellar to sort itself out. Drink 2016-2020. Located in Solicchiata, Michele Faro is among the new faces on Etna and a member of the fledgling group winemakers known as the “Etna Boys.” The estate was founded in 2005 and has 11 hectares of vineyard on the north face of Etna ranging from 600 to 900 meters above sea level. Pietradolce was developed with the help of consulting oenologist Carlo Ferrini. Importer: Empson USA, www.empsonusa.com