Exploring Etna with wild winemaker Frank Cornelissen – Wednesday 18th March
Frank Cornelissen is perhaps best known as something of a lodestar among natural wine fanatics. But to cast him purely in this mould is to downplay his significance in the wider wine world – and Italian wine in particular.
Originally a wine importer in his native Belgium, Frank made a dramatic shift 25 years ago when, with no formal training, he upped sticks to move to the then sleepy scene of Sicily. There he made his first wine from a tiny plot of ungrafted vines on the slopes of Etna, a region he has since helped revitalise to the fame it enjoys today.
Farming is organic, yields are low, average vine age very high (sometimes 100 years+), with many being ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines planted at altitudes of up to 1,000m. The red grape harvest, which can extend into November, is regularly the last in the Northern hemisphere.
The winemaking philosophy is centred around minimal intervention – rejecting commercial yeasts, additives and oak. Since Guillaume Thienpont of Vieux Château Certan came on board as technical consultant in 2018, a small amount of sulphur is used to preserve fruit purity and let the wild volcanic terroir shine.
The wines, largely made from Nerello Mascalese, are intense but precise with an astonishing marriage of freshness and depth – from the entry level bottlings to the top-production cuvées such as Magma, CS & VA, and the unorthodox, multi-vintage Munjebel.
‘Yes, Etna is in Sicily, but it is a completely different ballgame,’ says Frank. ‘We have a fragrance, a subtlety, an attention in the wines and an elegance that creates something magical. It’s an unpolished jewel and a pure, raw diamond, which we are gradually polishing.’
We’re thrilled to welcome Frank to the club to present his dazzling range of wines – we invite you to join him to uncover the evolution of Etna winemaking.
The wines we’ll be tasting:
2022 Munjebel Bianco Classico, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
2024 Susucaru Rosso, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
2021 Munjebel Rosso Classico, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
2018 Munjebel Rosso MC, Contrada Monte Colla, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
2018 Munjebel Rosso CS, Contrada Zottorinoto, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
2020 Munjebel Rosso MC, Contrada Monte Colla, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
2020 Munjebel Rosso CS, Contrada Zottorinoto, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
Munjebel Rosso P, Cuvée Perpetuum, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
2020 Magma Rosso, Contrada Barbabecchi, Azienda Agricola Frank Cornelissen
Wednesday 18th March
St James’s Room
18:30 – Welcome reception
19:00 – Masterclass begins
20:30 – Masterclass ends