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Magma: taking natural wine to the limit
The remarkable wines of Frank Cornelissen

‘It’s a bit wanky, isn’t it?’ That was the verdict offered by a newspaper wine correspondent who’d caught the tail end of a presentation by Frank Cornelissen (right), who was presenting his wines in the UK for the first time. Just 515 bottles of the inagural Magma, his top wine, will be released. The UK allocation is one case of 9, and each bottle will cost more than £100. Is it wanky, or is Frank doing something significant and interesting? Read on and judge for yourself.

Frank Cornelissen is a Belgian who has begun a new winery on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily that is one of the most unique and unusual projects I’ve yet encountered in the world of wine. He began collecting wines with his father, and the first wines he bought were a mixed case of 1972 Domaine de la Romanée Conti. Despite the cost, he was hooked. Since then ‘wine has never left me’, he says. Later, he became a wine agent, and talking regularly with winemakers he became interested by the rather philosophical question of what wine actually is. Over 20 years of tasting, he found that he liked wines that were an expression of culture, that are more evolved, and which express the soil more than the fruit. He decided that he wanted wines with a more natural approach and that he’d like to make wines without any treatments in the vineyard, winemaking or bottling.

One day at a restaurant in Sicily someone bought out a sample of a wine from Etna.  He immediately got in his car and drove round to the winery. Liking what he saw, he rented some vineyards on Etna, and made a wine in some abandoned sheds. This led to Frank buying an old ungrafted vineyard in 2001, which led to the creation of Magma.

Cornelissen’s estate consists of 5.5 hectares on the north slopes of Mount Etna. Of this, 2.5 hectares are ungrafted vines grown in the classic free-standing alberello (gobelet) system. The rest is given over to olive trees, fruit trees and bush. ‘I strive to abbandon monoculture in order to avoid the classic diseases, and have already intermixed the existing vineyards with various trees and plants,’ says Frank. ‘The newly replanted alberello vineyard was planted directly, with original branches of the pre-phyloxera vines, thus without the grafted genetically engineered rootstock. I decided for a low density for the areas standard (approximately 4000 plants/hectare) to give a better ventilation and the ability to cultivate other plants and vegetables in between the vines.’

The top wine is Magma, wine made from old Nerello Mascalese vines (50–80 years), from the highest parts of the vineyard. I’ll let Frank describe the vinification. ‘The wine is produced in a non-interventionalist way, fermented and aged according to ancient traditions in terracotta vases of approximately 400 litres each, buried in the ground in the cellar and fixed with ground volcanic rock. My aim is to avoid all treatments whatsoever in vineyard, orchard and surroundings, in which I succeeded in 2001. Unfortunately I had to treat with Bordelaise mix in 2002 one time on June 20th which was, given the wet conditions an unbelievable achievement. [In 2003 another treatment was necessary.] I harvest relatively late between end of October and early November to obtain beautifully healthy and ripe grapes, but avoiding overripe grapes. The yields are about 300 grams per vine, realised early in the growing season by pruning very short. Every grape bunch is tailored and tails are cut away as well as unripe berries are delicately picked out of the bunches... a monk's job! I refuse to add any sulphur dioxide (SO2) in any aspect of winemaking. I use very long masceration periods until after the malolactic fermentation, in order not to disturb the delicate and complex natural fermentation processes. In this way the grape/wine mass remains unseparated and complete during the entire transformation process which is important to maintain a cosmic link in order to extract all possible aromas of soil and area. The separation of the skins from the wine is done around April, after the wine has finished the malolactic fermentation.’

The use of amphorae is a fascinating practice. Frank says that he traveled half the world to find the right density of clay. Amphorae allow the wine to breathe a little, but don’t give the tannins of the wood, nor do they alter the wines colour. Frank likes this because he doesn’t want to add anything to the vine. The evaporation rate from a 400 litre amphora is about the same as from a 2000 or 3000 litre vat; a 250 litre amphora resembles a 1500 litre vat and a 100 litre amphora is close to a barrique.

Frank continues, ‘Total production was just 1000 bottles in 2001 over one Magma® Rosso and Rosso del Mongibello. There will be approx. 2000 bt. in 2002 over 3 Magma® Rosso wines from different vineyards and one Rosso del Contadino (available march 2005). The goal is to arrive at a total of approx. 6000 to 8000 bottles annualy divided over 4 wines: Magma® Rosso as a monovarietal, single vineyard wine, the Magma® Bianco as a "Jura-style" oxidized wine, Rosso del Mongibello as a monovarietal, multi-vineyard wine which depending on our decision may also be a blend of vintages like the traditional reserva wines of old days and our new Rosso del Contadino, a multi varietal, multi vineyard wine, made with a lesser masceration, bottled with the fine lees, a more simple wine with less territory precision but high drinkability, made with our grapes.’

‘Maybe you might find my pricing a little awkward as the difference between the Magma® and Rosso del Mongibello is enormous. Let me explain to you why. When I calculated the Magma, the price was really high because of the enormous costs in the vineyard selecting and reselecting bunches, grapes, cutting the tails, and so on. I knew that there is always a selection of grapes that isn't the "ne plus ultra" and so I wanted to make also an assembled wine with the same philosophy, the Rosso del Mongibello. Magma as top wine was expensive and thus destined for wealthy people and I felt the Rosso was also too expensive to be tasted by average people. I didn't want to make wine only for the economically rich people and so I lowered the price on the Rosso and raised the price on the Magma to cover the loss and get the balance. I have now a high-end wine that reflects territory and I have a wine that remains accessible for virtually every wine-lover, which is "co-sponsored" by the Magma lovers. A social price-setting.’

Frank also makes a high-end olive oil and grows two varieties of wheat, together with other crops in smaller quantities. ‘Wine has become the Hollywood of agriculture’, he says. He uses the money from his wine to subsidise his cereals.

These are my tasting notes from the two wines I tasted. More details about what goes into them and how they are made can be found below these notes. ‘Wanky’ or not? To some, this level of attention to detail may seem utterly self-indulgent and divorced from the real world. I was expecting the wines to be weird and oxidized. But they were actually fantastic. Unusual, but compelling. And I think that the wine world needs people like Frank Cornelissen to push at the boundaries of what is possible. No, I don’t expect other producers necessarily to give up using sulphur dioxide and vineyard treatments. Nonetheless, what he’s doing with Magma will help others ask deeper questions about what they are doing with their wines, which can only be a good thing.

Rosso del Mongibello
This is a sample drawn from the amphora (not a cask sample, and amphora sample!). It’s a slightly faded red colour with browning edges. The nose shows lovely sweet, grapey fruit with a complex herby, tobbacoey edge. The palate is savoury with earthy definition; it’s full and shows a slightly animally, chocolatey edge. Very complex with a delicious sweetness to the fruit. It opens out to become more earthy and spicy, with forest floor notes too. Stunning stuff. Very good/excellent 93/100

Magma Rosso 1
Palish red with subtle browning at the rim. The nose is open, displaying pure ripe, sweet fruit. Rounded, clean and ripe with subtle herby influence. The palate is concentrated, tannic, earthy and spicy showing lots of structure. Yet the overriding impression is of pure, sweet intense red fruits. Delicate but powerful at the same time. The tannic structure is smooth and fine-grained. Striking stuff with lots of minerality and earthiness; this will need time to show its best. Serious. Excellent 95/100
 

UPDATE (August 2009) - for a more recent write up on Frank's wines, see this piece.

The different wines (these are the descriptions provided by Frank):

Magma® rosso
100% nerello mascalese from single vineyards in various communes, only produced if the vineyards have produced great grapes. We bottle all vineyards separately. Selection of "grape per grape" is done to have perfectly sane and ripe (not overripe!) grapes. The grape bunches are destemmed, pressed with the feet in a wooden container before going into the terracotta containers for fermentation. After alcoholic fermentation, the terracotta containers are sealed with the integral grape mass inside until after malolactic fermentation. Hereafter the mass is pressed and the wine goes back into the terracotta containers for approx. 15 months before bottling. Obviously the wine is unfiltered, unfined and bottled without
SO2 as during the whole winemaking process NO product (chemical, refined or other) is added to the wine. It is important to store these wines in a cool cellar (approx. 16 °C, max. 18 °C). We suggest tasting these wines in declining moon position which reflects the aromas in a more harmonious way, without decanting, in a fine tasting glass. The wine will perfectly develop in the glass. First production: vintage 2001 in one vineyard (Muganazze): 515 bottles of 0,75 l. Next releases:  vintage 2002 in 3 vineyards (Trefiletti, Marchesa, Calderara): 1.100 bottles.

Magma® bianco
A project for the next 3 years as we will be planting the grape variety Riesling renano (pre-phylloxera) ungrafted in our most beautifull vineyard, in the highest positions (980-1010 metres). This year we will be preparing the spots where we will plant the vines and next year we will be planting around 1500 plants. Selection of "grape per grape" is done to have perfectly sane and slightly overripe grapes. The grape bunches are destemmed (leaving approx. 5% stems), pressed with the feet in a wooden container before going into the terracotta containers for fermentation. After alcoholic fermentation, the terracotta containers are sealed with the integral grape mass inside until after malolactic fermentation. Hereafter the mass is pressed and the wine goes back into the terracotta containers for approx. 27 months before bottling. Obviously the wine is unfiltered, unfined and bottled without SO2 as during the whole winemaking process NO product (chemical, refined or other) is added to the wine. First production: planned for 2008... patience is needed...

Rosso del Mongibello (nb Mongibello is named MunJebel from the 2006 vintage)
100% nerello mascalese from possibly various vintages (the first was made from 2001 and 2002) as well as various vineyards in different communes with different geology and exposure (Barbabecchi, Muganazze, Marchesa, Piano dei Daini, Donna Bianca, ...). The grapebunches are destemmed, pressed with the feet in a wooden container before going into the terracotta containers for fermentation. After alcoholic fermentation, the terracotta containers are sealed with the integral grape mass inside until after malolactic fermentation. Hereafter the mass is pressed and the wine goes back into the terracotta containers for approx. 15 months before bottling. Obviously the wine is unfiltered, unfined and bottled without SO2 as during the whole winemaking process NO product (chemical, refined or other) is added to the wine. Important to store these wines in a cool cellar (approx. 16°C, max. 18°C). We suggest to taste these wines in declining moon position which reflects the aromas in a more harmonious way, without decanting, in a fine tasting glass. The wine will perfectly develop in the glass. First production: vintage 2001 which was assembled with 2002 and resulted in 1.024 bottles, burgundy type of 0,75 liters

Rosso del Contadino
The idea to have a simple, tasty, economical wine with the same sane agricultural and winemaking "non"-techniques has been around for some time and the 2003 vintage has given me the grapes to make a test. And the result is more than pleasant! We like this wine very much. It has the high drinkability factor, made entirely without SO2, made from sane grapes but not selected, partly stemmed and unstemmed, crushed partly with the feet, partly with a small portable machine, mixed all kinds of grapes together, as the vintage brought them in from the land (Carricante, white table grapes, Inzolia, Cattaratto, Nerello Mascalese, Alicante, Nerello Cappuccio,...) The fermentation is done in polycarbonate containers of 700–1000 liters, in contact with the integral mass for as long as the alcoholic fermentation (approx. 40 days). Then the wine is being pressed and after tasting approval by us the wine goes into the terracotta anforas for approx. 10 months. The Rosso del Contadino is bottled after stirring completely the "noble lees" and thus will be completely cloudy. The reason is that the lees are the nutrition of the wine and since this is not a high precision, terroir wine, it needs a bit more of a help to evolve in the bottle. And it tastes GREAT! Obviously the wine is unfiltered, unfined and bottled without SO2 as during the whole winemaking process NO product (chemical, refined or other) is added to the wine. Important to store these wines in a cool cellar (approx. 16°C, max. 18°C). We suggest to taste these wines in declining moon position which reflects the aromas in a more harmonious way, without decanting, in a fine tasting glass. The wine will perfectly develop in the glass. First production: 2003 with approx. 1300 burgundy-type bottles of 0,75 liters.

Wines tasted 24 May 2004  

aviailability in the UK: 
Winetraders

Michael Palij MW
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Tel: 00 44 (0) 1993 848 777
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