Etna Wines

Chronicle of a recent fame, but thousands years old

A lot has been said and done about Etna Wines these past few years. High praised, prizes winner and worldwide awarded. Etna Wine today is a trend, in Sicily as well as the rest of Italy and abroad.

But what made Etna Wines so desirable, to let us salivate by just dreaming of tasting it?

The answer to this question, as many other things in Sicily, dates back in time.

From the Bronze Age to the Middle Age

It is said the Greeks brought vines cultivars in Sicily. Yet, some foundings from the Phoenicians and other previous cultures, suggest at least the existence of the plant before the Greeks.

What the Greeks did was importing news and innovation. They introduced the act of pruning, the varietals choice and the tree cultivar, other than innesting some original grapes from their motherland.

Then the Romans made the best out of wine, making it one of the top products of the Empire. Even said that “Mamertino” was Caesar’ favourite wine.

During Middle Age wine production decreased up to the Arab domination in Sicily. But with the Aragonesi first, and especially the Borbone later, Etna Wine came back to enrich the tables of the Old and New World. It was in fact at the end of the 18^th Century that the first great Sicilian Wineries were born, Florio above all.

Post Fillossera

Then in the middle of the 19th century the so called “Wine’s bane” arrived, “Phylloxera”. An insect coming from America that destroyed almost the 80% of all the european vineyards. Consequences were catastrophic, as the wine production came back to life only at the middle of the 20^th century.

And here finally comes our Etna Wines!

Thanks to the height and the cold temperatures, some Etna vineyards survived the epidemy. But the Etna Wine, when the strong bodied Sicilian wines were mostly used to cut the great and esile wines from north Europe, couldn’t be appreciated

Only at the end of the ‘90s things started to change. With the contribution of new Sicilian, Italian and foreign investors, sicilian wines were having their own fame. So Nero d’Avola, the dominating red grape, was not enough no more. New flavours are seeked now, in harmony with the greatest international grapes

Here is where the recent Etna Wines luck comes from! The Nerello Mascalese or Cappuccio grapes, have those elegance and softness characteristics from the greatest red wines. The Carricante is an autoctone grape whose freshness fears no comparison even to the greatest german Rieslings.

These two grapes gave life to the Etna DOC, the eldest in Scily, and today they make the luck of almost 150 wineries on the slopes of our volcano.

Emilio Sciacca Etna Wine is one of the 150, and they produce natural Etna DOC wines. We love their wines!

• Rossobrillo: an Etna DOC wine born from young vineyards of Nerello Mascalese, to drink in a convivial atmosphere
• Biancopiglio: from the ancient vineyards of Carricante, Catarratto, Grenico and Coda di Volpe, which evoke the historical expression of the Etna territory
• Neromagno: an Etna DOC wine, red wine, a deep wine, adhering to tradition, which distinguishes itself from the Rosssobrillo in its ageing techniques.

During our wine tours, you will visit two of the most important wineries on Etna, to taste Etna wines, natural and DOC lead by professional sommeliers and enjoying the traditional Sicilian food.