Frank Cornelissen is the ultimate naturalist winemaker. His vineyard is located in the north valley of the famous and still active Mt. Etna volcano in Sicily. Each year, Frank simply takes what nature has offered up and presents it to us in as unadultered a state as possible. His wines are the true expression of the complexity of the variables at play in each vintage. These are wines the way nature intended them to be.
(You can see our full inventory including the wines we import from Frank here.)
This year Frank has invested in some changes in the form of:
- a new bottling line
- new Ardeaseal closures
- a new filtering system
The New Bottling Line
The new upgraded and modified bottling line is capable of reducing oxidation of the wines while bottling.
Light sediment is still present, but equally divided over each bottle.
New Ardeaseal Closures
The Ardeas
eal closures will increase lasting quality as well as equal oxygen rates per every bottle to reduce variable bottle quality over the years. All 2014 wines will have Ardeaseal closures on the 0.75 bottle. For the magnums and double magnums Frank is working with Ardeasesal to get the required diameter closures to also seal these bigger bottles. For now, the 2014 vintage magnums are still Nomacorc Select 100 and the double magnums are natural cork. Frank hopes to change this with the coming 2015 vintage.
The Filtering System
The new over-dimensioned filtering system has been employed to avoid pressure and stress on the wines while at the same time allowing a reduction in the quantity of sediment per bottle to a minimum. Thanks to this equipment, the wines will increase in finesse and definition without losing any of their juice, density and opulence. Virtually no pressure while the wine passes through the filter elements.
Frank doesn’t fine his wines so he needed to make a choice between either fining and ‘cleaning’ the wines at an early stage, or filtering the wines in a gentle way, without going sterile. He chose the latter as it allows him to keep the juice in his wines and maintain nourishment during the aging of the wines in the cellar.
Frank is happy to report that his white Munjebel 2014 has been taken to another level due to these mechanical improvements.
To read more about Frank Cornelissen check out our profile on him here or read more about Frank at his website here.