After drinking a Calderara Sottana from 2004 that showed poorly (old, stewy, and oaky), I thought to pop others from 2004 to make sure they were okay.
Terre Nere, Etna Rosso, 'Guardiola', 2004
Bright cherry red colored. Dense and heavy nose that takes time to sort out. At first it almost seems mildly corked, but false alarm, after watermelon rind and grapeskin pomice show through. There's a touch of VA, pretty dense with better fruit than the Calderara Sottana, pretty obvious wood on the finish. Think I would opt to drink this now or soon instead of keeping. B+/A-
Terre Nere, Etna Rosso, 'Feudo di Mezzo', 2004
Color shows darker than most nerello-based wines. Dark plums and mace spice on the nose. Sweet, somewhat skunky cherry fruit and bark, very pretty yet in a masculine undercurrent. Better than either the Calderara Sottana or Guardiola from the same year, sharing the watermelon rind of the latter but with a better acid structure, and showing sweet stewed plums, cherry compote, and Christmas pudding. Drinking very well at present. 14% A-
If anybody has any experience aging these, chime in. In my limited experience with the nerello-based wines (speaking here mostly of Etna Rosso & Faro for appelations, with the exception of Passopisciaro which uses the Sicilia designation), these probably could be aged longer, but for my tastes show best at around 4-5 years after release. With the exception of Palari, many of these haven't been around here long enough to determine ageability yet. I like them when they show the fresh mountain fruit but without the stewed dimensions they seem to take on with time.