Etna’s star winemakers

Given that a relatively small number of grapes thrive in soils created by thousands of years of lava flows, one might believe that wines from the Etna production zone in Sicily might not be all that dissimilar.

Yet there are marked differences in the best offerings due to factors such as vine age, vineyard elevation and orientation.

Combine that with the specialised planting systems in dozens of individual contrade and you soon realise that there is no one single Etna style or approach.

Below are insights from six top winemakers on the volcano, commenting on what makes their territory and their wines so distinctive.

Scroll down for wines from some of Etna’s star winemakers

Salvo Foti

For more than 40 years, Catania-born Salvo Foti has been a winemaking consultant for several wineries in Sicily, but for the last 30 years his work has been focused on Etna.

His own project, ‘I Vigneri’, represents a team of native Etna workers specialised not only in viticulture but also in building terraces and lava stone walls. The I Vigneri label represents wines exclusive to the Foti family.

Foti together with his two sons, Simone and Andrea, produce multiple examples of Etna Rosso and Etna Bianco, along with an Etna Rosato and an Etna Rosato Frizzante.

In his ‘Aurora’ Etna Bianco – a blend of 90% Carricante with 10% Minella – he presses whole clusters and ages the wine in stainless steel tanks for five months.

The 2023 displays outstanding complexity, with notes of lemon oil, tangerine and chalk, and a distinct sapidity on the finish.

Arguably his most remarkable wine is his ‘Vinudilice’ rosato, a field blend of at least ten varietals of 100- to 150-year-old vines situated at 1,200 metres above sea level; one of the highest vineyards on Etna.

Foti explains that at this elevation, grapes such as Nerello Mascalese and Carricante struggle to survive. In their place, Alicante, Grecanico and Minella rosso (today a rarity) were planted.

Foti remarks that for Vinudilice, which he describes as ‘unique, extreme and unrepeatable’, the blend of grapes ‘cannot be decided by me, because it is what the vineyard gives’.

Emiliano Falsini

Tuscan-born Emiliano Falsini is a consulting oenologist for wineries in a dozen Italian regions, but it’s his work in Etna that has brought him his greatest critical success.

Here, he can make outstanding wines that, in his words, are ‘elegant, complex, but not complicated’.

Falsini currently consults for four Etna estates: Maugeri, Girolamo Russo, Graci and Massimo Lentsch. He also produces Etna Rosso and Rosato under his own label from a contrada near Randazzo on Etna’s north side.

He uses very little Nerello Cappuccio, preferring Nerello Mascalese, as he believes this variety on its own ‘can best express the energy, elegance and minerals of the Etna territory’.

Falsini notes the work that has been done by producers in recent years. ‘A great job has been done in the vineyards, but especially in the cellar with investments in technology.

Today, we produce Etna whites that can age in a fantastic way and that in my opinion are among the most interesting in the Italian panorama.’

Regarding his own approach, Falsinis remarks, ‘a style made of respect for the grape variety and for the individual contrade, where man’s work is at the service of nature. I want to make wines that people can understand and through which they can discover the territory to which they belong.’

Calogero Statella

Given that Calogero Statella was born in the small town of Nicolosi – a small town on the south slope of Etna – it seems quite appropriate that he has become one of the most successful oenologists of the volcano; first with Tenute delle Terre Nere in 2008, and then in 2016 with his own label, Famiglia Statella.

Regarding Nerello Mascalese, Statella believes this is a grape that, like Pinot Noir in Burgundy, is strongly influenced by the growing environment.

‘This leads to variable production and quality performances depending on the soil and climate characteristics of the area’, he explains.

He notes that acidity could be very high in vineyards at high altitudes or those with deep and fertile soils, or acidity could be lesser from vineyards at lower altitudes or in lean, shallow soils.

At Terre Nere, there are pre-phylloxera vines between 90 and 125 years old; even more with certain plots.

‘The yield of these vineyards is very low,’ Statella explains, ‘because they are very weak plants, but the quality of the grapes is absolutely top.’

His winemaking system for these grapes is like others he works with, but with a very delicate management of skin contact. ‘They are small batches, so I prefer manual punching down and very few pumpovers.’

Frank Cornelissen

It should be no surprise that Frank Cornelissen, a former mountain climber, selected Etna as his winemaking home. ‘I was looking for great terroir to make absolute top wines,’ he explains.

‘Not only are there complex subsoils, but northern Etna has a rare microclimate with cold winters, the altitude, and sandy soils that enables you to plant ungrafted.’

After 25 years of research and experimentation, Cornelissen is today considered one of Etna’s most singular and highly respected winemakers.

He does not vinify in wood, preferring to use fibreglass vessels ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 litres for fermenting, and 2,500 to 7,000 litres for ageing.

His single-site wines are labelled with the initials of the individual contrada – ‘MC’ for Monte Colla, ‘VA’ for Vigne Alte and so on.

Sourcing fruit from vineyards of 30- to 90-plus years of age, his reds are 100% Nerello Mascalese, a grape that in his words ‘has a kind of chameleon characteristic’.

For Cornelissen, this variety can express Burgundian finesse, resembling Pinot Noir, while for bigger vintages he perceives ‘a more noticeable Nebbiolo characteristic’.

Ever the individualist, Cornelissen’s remarkable white, Munjebel Bianco VA is primarily Grecanico Dorato and Coda di Volpe, with only 10% Carricante. He is not a fan of Carricante, arguing that it is ‘high in acidity, but not very profound’.

He explains that he decided to keep the vineyard, planted in 1925, as ‘a historical expression of Etna’.

Alberto Graci

The goal of Catania-born Alberto Graci at his eponymous estate in Passopisciaro has been one of expressing the territory in a pure and more refined way; this is true for the vineyards and in the cellar. ‘Biodiversity is key,’ he states.

‘Planting trees, maintaining dry-stone walls, and thoughtful farming all enhance the complexity of our wines and protect our land.’

Graci excels at both white and red wines. Carricante, the sole grape in his whites, ‘retains acidity even in warm vintages and has a salty, mysterious character that makes it unique’.

His top reds are sourced from two different contrade – Arcurià and Feudi di Mezzo.

He explains that Arcurià, made from both young and old vines, always gives ‘a transparent, elegant and fine wine’, while Feudo di Mezzo, made exclusively from 85-year-old vines, is a more powerful offering.

Graci loves the uniqueness of Etna. ‘Its Mediterranean character and citrus-driven energy cannot be replicated, yet it belongs to the family of refined, elegant wines. So, those who love Burgundy, or the great wines of the Langhe, often fall in love with Etna as well. Nerello Mascalese can age beautifully for 20 years or more.’

Giuseppe Russo

Twenty years after his first harvest, Passopisciaro-born Giuseppe Russo has risen to the top of Etna’s winemakers at Girolamo Russo, yet he still faces the reality of finding enough workers during harvest.

‘This can cause slowdowns and the risk that the grapes will be ruined, as the manual work and scrupulous selection that I do does not allow me to go quickly in the harvest.’

Russo’s signature wines are his various Etna Rosso from individual contrade situated in northern Etna. He describes ‘the finesse, the elegance, the fruit and the different character’ that Nerello Mascalese can assume from one district to another.

To obtain this, Russo vinifies all the districts in the same way, with soft punching down and short macerations. ‘This ensures that the character of each territory emerges by itself’, he says.

Russo comments that he finds his wines closer to Burgundy than to Piedmont, especially in the cooler and less dry years. He is also recognised for his white wines, made primarily from Carricante, a variety he admires for its intricacy.

‘The best feature of Carricante is its ability to produce wines that grow qualitatively over time; wines that are very enjoyable in their youth, but 15-18 months after the harvest acquire great complexity and depth… the volcanic notes blend perfectly with the fruit, floral and savoury sensations.’

Tom’s pick of Etna from its star winemakers

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