Last month we were lucky to have Frank Cornelissen (the second on the left) with his Uk and Spain suppliers having dinner at Bistro Aix. He makes Nerello Mascalese based wines between 800 and 900 meters on the Northern slope of the Mount Etna in Sicily, from mostly ungrafted and pre-philloxera vines, and he’s one of the most radical and known natural winemakers in the world – here is how he explains his hands-off approach: “Our farming philosophy is based on our acceptance of the fact that man will never be able to understand nature’s full complexity and interactions. We therefore choose to concentrate on observing and learning the movements of Mother Earth in her various energetic and cosmic passages and prefer to follow her indications as to what to do, instead of deciding ourselves. Consequently this has taken us to avoiding all possible interventions on the land we cultivate, including any treatments, whether chemical, organic or biodynamic, as these are all a mere reflection of the inability of man to accept nature as she is and will be”.
He really enjoyed the food at Bistro Aix, and we are enjoying his unique wines – you can find his “2012 Rosso del Contadino” and “2012 Munjebel VA” on our wine list.
The Contadino is normally available in our Wednesday Wine Tasting Evenings – hope you can join us!
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