Sicily Wine

Lower ABV This legendary Etna winery began bottling in 1988 and was an early pioneer in focusing on single-contrada expressions of the volcano. Their Etna white is a charmer of 100% Carricante from east and south-facing slopes... Read More

Like their Etna Bianco, Etna pioneer Benanti’s Etna Rosso is a blend of multiple vineyards on the volcano’s northern and southern slopes and is built for pure pleasure enjoyment! As Vinous says, it “wafts up... Read More

Organic/Bio Massimiliano Calabretta is as close to a “natural winemaker” as we’ve found on Etna so far, with organic farming and minimal cellar work and loads of respect for his old vines. The family has made... Read More

Organic/Bio Eduardo Torres Acosta learned to make wine with his grandfather in Tenerife before shifting his attention to another volcanic island and coming to Sicily in 2012 to work a harvest with Arianna Occhipinti. He’s... Read More

Federico Graziani comes at Etna wine from the perspective of a taster. At age 15 he took his first wine tasting course and in 1998, at age 23, he was crowned Italy’s top sommelier. He came to Etna in 2008 and now has 6HA... Read More

This is a fabulous bargain in very high-end Etna red. It's mainly Nerello Mascalese with a smattering of the softer Nerello Cappuccio from sites across the north slopes of the volcano. It’s wonderfully layered and complex,... Read More

Organic/Bio Russo’s Calderara Sottana is more red-fruited and open/fleshy than the darker, more intense, San Lorenzo. But there’s still plenty of intensity to the perfume and flavors and grip on the long, minerally,... Read More

Organic/Bio As Wine Advocate said last year, “Giuseppe Russo makes some of the best wines on Etna. Full stop.” And this is Doug’s favorite pretty much every year. From roughly 50 year-old vines at 500 meters,... Read More

Organic/Bio At the very top of San Lorenzo, at 750 meters elevation, almost too high to be “Etna Rosso,” Russo farms a 0.7HA plot of vines planted in the early 1940s. Originally they were trained on traditional albarello... Read More

Organic/Bio Pre-Order Only At the very top of San Lorenzo, at 750 meters elevation, almost too high to be “Etna Rosso,” Russo farms a 0.7HA plot of vines planted in the early 1940s. Originally they were trained on... Read More

Organic/Bio From 700 meters elevation in Mogannazzi contrada and vines up to 100 year-old vines, this showcases the wilder, more savory, side of Etna. Maybe it’s the fully 20% Nerello Cappuccio joining Nerello Mascalese,... Read More

Organic/Bio Lower ABV Sicily’s Nero d’Avola grape can get heavy and pruny and very simple, but here the Sala sisters coax terrific freshness and even purity from their 15 year-old vines in western Sicily. The secret... Read More

Organic/Bio Only from Etna do you get this captivating combination of smoky volcanic rock and crunchy-ripe strawberry/sweet cherry fruit with mouthcoating tannins that give shape and elevate the flavors without drying you out... Read More

Organic/Bio At just 1,800 feet elevation, the lowest of Passopisciaro’s Contrada vines grow on the last edges of Mount Etna lava. The vines push through the lava to limestone and develop more rich, round, textures than the... Read More

Organic/Bio Someday I'll go to Le Contrade dell'Etna and taste wines from every important contrade on the volcano. Until then, though, my position is clear and absolute: Guardiola is my favorite and, arguably, the best.... Read More

Organic/Bio What I’ve learned about Passopisciaro’s Etna Chardonnays is you must give yourself three tastes before you understand what’s going on. Chardonnay of these poor volcanic soils is so mineral and intense... Read More

Organic/Bio This is from a tiny, tiny, plot of vines Andrea Franchetti planted in the Passochianche contrada around 3,000 feet done in large oak. Maybe “Puligny Montrachet meets the Santa Cruz Mountains” suggests the... Read More

Organic/Bio Contrada Rampante is Passopisciaro's highest cru and, at 3,300 feet, at the very limit of where Nerello Mascalese can be grown. It's loaded with floral perfume and lifted by vital acidity, but the fruit - sweet/tart,... Read More

Organic/Bio Contrada Rampante is Passopisciaro's highest cru and, at 3,300 feet, at the very limit of where Nerello Mascalese can be grown. It's loaded with floral perfume and lifted by vital acidity, but the fruit - sweet/tart,... Read More

Organic/Bio With just 1HA of vines on the 2,800 foot elevation, lava-covered, Contrada Sciaranuova, Passopisciaro made only 165 cases or so of this in 2021. The name translates to new lava flow which covered the site in the 1600s... Read More

Organic/Bio With just 1HA of vines on the 2,800 foot elevation, lava-covered, Contrada Sciaranuova, this is always one of the more limited wines from Passopisciaro. The name translates to new lava flow which covered the site in... Read More

I never met Andrea Franchetti, who died in December 2021 at the age of 72. But this wine sums up everything I’ve read and heard from his partners at Passopisciaro. “Poetic” and “wildly visionary”... Read More

Organic/Bio While Andera Franchetti grew to love and master Etna's native red grape, Nerello Mascalese, he never found the charm or potential in its white varietals. So he planted Chardonnay which he hoped would thrive in... Read More

A blend of classic Sicilian grapes - Nero d'Avola and Frappato - loaded with Cerasuolo or cherry charcater. As Vinous says in the 91 point review, Peppery and floral, the 2022 Cerasuolo di Vittoria wafts up with a spicy blend... Read More

Organic/Bio Without question, Planeta is the most important winery in Sicily and has done more than anyone to drive up quality and awareness of good Sicilian wine around the world. Etna is just a small part of what they do but,... Read More