{"title":"Italy - Sicily","description":"\u003cp\u003eSicily, Italy’s largest island, blends ancient wine traditions with a fresh wave of modern creativity. Its star red grape, Nero d’Avola, thrives in the island’s warm, sun-soaked climate, producing intensely flavored wines with dark fruit and a hint of savory spice. Along the western coast lies the historic heartland of Marsala, a fortified wine prized for both sweet and dry styles. Rising above the island’s varied landscapes is Mount Etna, an active volcano whose mineral-rich soils and cooler elevations result in elegantly structured reds and nuanced whites. From coast to crater, Sicily’s wine culture is as diverse and vibrant as the region itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"frank-cornelissen-munjebel-cs-rosso-2020","title":"Frank Cornelissen “Munjebel” CS Rosso 2020","description":"","brand":"Benny and Zoid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47049245327583,"sku":"","price":108.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P6101282.jpg?v=1749617388"},{"product_id":"frank-cornelissen-munjebel-va-rosso-2020","title":"Frank Cornelissen “Munjebel” VA Rosso 2020","description":"","brand":"Benny and Zoid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47049251815647,"sku":"","price":108.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P6101281.jpg?v=1749617017"},{"product_id":"cos-contrada-nero-davola-2019","title":"COS Contrada Nero d'Avola 2019","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Natural","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47251621085407,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8201771.jpg?v=1755745026"},{"product_id":"filippo-grasso-etna-rosso-capu-chiurma-2021","title":"Filippo Grasso Etna Rosso Capu Chiurma 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003eContrada Calderara Sottana\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wine Down Selections","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47494192365791,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PA142176.jpg?v=1760494510"},{"product_id":"passopisciaro-etna-rosso-passorosso-2023","title":"Passopisciaro Etna Rosso Passorosso 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eNerello Mascalese from different altitudes and soil types across Mt. Etna. Bright red fruits, herbaceous notes and noticeable minerality from the famous volcanic soils. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giuliana","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48458482942175,"sku":null,"price":46.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P2180927.jpg?v=1771466642"},{"product_id":"tenuta-ballasanti-etna-rosato-2024","title":"Tenuta Ballasanti Etna Rosato 2024","description":"","brand":"Willette Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48666861764831,"sku":null,"price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P3191123.jpg?v=1773976630"},{"product_id":"tenuta-ballasanti-sicilia-rosso-2023","title":"Tenuta Ballasanti Sicilia Rosso 2023","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eNerello Mascalese built its reputation on the northern slopes of Etna, where basalt soils and high altitude produce wines of structure and age-worthiness. This bottle comes from the eastern foot of the volcano, on different terrain at a lower elevation. The Temerario vineyard sits at approximately 400 meters in Contrada Ricceri Ciapparo, San Giovanni Montebello, in the municipality of Giarre, just outside the Etna DOC boundary. That geography is the reason the label reads Sicilia DOC rather than Etna DOC: the boundary is bureaucratic, but the volcanic identity of the soil is the same. Permeable volcanic earth rich in potassium and iron, the same Ionian Sea breezes that keep disease pressure low across the eastern slope, and alberello bush vines working soils their roots have known for generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003e100% Nerello Mascalese, trained as single-trunk alberello with three branches, following organic farming principles. Two-thirds of the harvest is destemmed and pressed; one-third goes into tank as whole clusters, where partial carbonic maceration encourages fresh, aromatic fruit expression. The wine ferments and undergoes malolactic in stainless steel and ages entirely in tank with no wood contact. The 2023 vintage across Sicily was defined by peronospora, a fungal disease triggered by a wet spring that slashed yields by 25 to 35 percent across the island. What survived was concentrated and precise. The result here is ruby red with violet hues: strawberry, raspberry, white flowers, and a touch of dark grape skin, with a soft, fresh palate and mild tannin that makes the wine immediately approachable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eTenute Ballasanti is the project of Manuela Seminara and her husband Fabio Gualandris. Manuela's family has farmed this hillside above the Ionian Sea for generations: her great-grandfather Don Lorenzo sold wine to French merchants; her grandfather Don Angelo cultivated citrus, olives, chestnuts, and vines across the same volcanic slopes. Manuela spent years working in the semiconductor industry in Brussels and then Milan but never permanently left. She and Fabio eventually reunified the dispersed family properties, bringing in Piedmontese winemaker Luca Caramellino to work with them. The estate now covers 19 total hectares across three distinct sites, Tenace, Sublime, and Temerario, producing seven labels, all farmed organically. The Sicilia DOC is dedicated to their son Lorenzo, and the name captures the wine's character: cheerful, direct, and unabashedly Sicilian.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003ePartial carbonic maceration and zero wood contact make this unusually fresh and food-friendly for a red. Grilled swordfish with capers and Sicilian olives, eggplant caponata on bruschetta, a simple pasta al pomodoro with fresh basil, or a summer antipasto with cured meats and marinated vegetables all suit it. Serve slightly chilled. The kind of bottle that belongs on a table rather than in a cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Willette Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50079654871263,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P6060311.jpg?v=1780892281"},{"product_id":"terre-nere-etna-bianco-2024-copy","title":"Passopisciaro Contrada PC Bianco 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst produced in 2018, Contrada PC is a mountain Chardonnay with great aging potential. It originates from Contrada Passochianche, from a tiny terraced vineyard situated at an altitude of 870–1,000 meters above sea level, located above the Passopisciaro Winery.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giuliana","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50494328635615,"sku":null,"price":85.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P6270509_2b35dfbc-9580-46cb-b5eb-6ec11aefed82.jpg?v=1782667334"},{"product_id":"benanti-contrada-rinazzo-etna-bianco-superiore-2022","title":"Benanti \"Contrada Rinazzo\" Etna Bianco Superiore 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e100% Carricante grown in sandy, volcanic soils with tons of minerals. This wine is dry with great acidity. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContrada Rinazzo is located on the high slopes of Milo on the east slope of Mount Etna. Only white wines from Milo are allowed to be called Etna Bianco Superiore. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"RBG","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50494581113055,"sku":null,"price":72.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P6270502_d27f29d7-a244-4526-bfe0-a0eeb48e4ab3.jpg?v=1782665937"},{"product_id":"terre-di-montalto-etna-rosato-2024","title":"Terre di Montalto Etna Rosato 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEtna's reputation was built on the northern slope around Randazzo, but Terre di Montalto works the far less celebrated southwestern face of the volcano, above the town of Biancavilla. What makes this estate unusual is its altitude: the vines sit between 860 and 960 meters, high enough that cool winds and old soils keep the wines fresh and low in alcohol even though the fruit ripens fully. The soils are distinctive even for Etna: ancient iron-rich red earth that predates the volcano, mixed with Ripiddu, fist-sized basalt stones thrown out by an eruption 60,000 years ago. Because phylloxera never reached Etna's volcanic sand, the vines are own-rooted, growing on their original stock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e100% Nerello Mascalese, Etna's noble red grape, from 60-year-old terraced vines trained in the traditional spalliera and alberello systems. The grapes are hand-harvested, sorted twice, softly pressed, and fermented cool at 13 to 16 degrees. The wine then spends four months on fine lees in temperature-controlled stainless steel with weekly stirring, followed by six months in bottle before release. The result is a pale, dry, mineral rosato: red currant, pomegranate, and cherry fruit with violet, Mediterranean herbs, and a savory, saline volcanic edge. It is taut and fresh, closer in spirit to a serious pale rose than to anything sweet or simple.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTerre di Montalto is owned by three brothers who farm 6.5 hectares of steep, terraced, own-rooted vines in Biancavilla. Their family has grown vines on this southwestern slope since the end of the 19th century, began bottling their own wine in 1980, and finally built their own winery in 2018. They work only native Etna varieties, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio for reds, Carricante and Catarratto for whites, and farm organically, which the constant mountain winds make relatively easy by keeping disease and pests at bay. It is a small, traditional grower estate quietly working one of Etna's overlooked corners.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a rosato with the structure to sit down to a meal. Pour it with grilled swordfish, pasta alla Norma, caponata, or a plate of Sicilian charcuterie and pecorino. Its saline, herbal edge is made for eggplant, olive oil, and grilled fish, while the fresh acidity keeps it lively next to richer dishes. Serve it chilled but not ice-cold, so its volcanic minerality shows.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Willette Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50577185931487,"sku":null,"price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P7250775.jpg?v=1785129196"},{"product_id":"terre-nere-etna-bianco-superiore-salice-2024","title":"Terre Nere Etna Bianco Superiore Salice 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEtna Bianco Superiore is one of the narrowest appellations in Italy: to carry the designation, the fruit must come from the township of Milo on the eastern face of the volcano and nowhere else. Milo sits directly in the path of moisture coming off the Ionian Sea, which makes it the wettest, coolest, and greenest side of Etna, and it is the only zone the DOC recognizes as capable of white wine at that level. Contrada Salice is a 1.2-hectare parcel there, running from 600 to 750 meters. The soil is volcanic ash and lava sand: shallow, poor, and free-draining, so the vines work for everything. Altitude, maritime moisture, and black sand is an unusual combination anywhere, and specific to this face of the mountain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e100% Carricante, a variety that grows almost nowhere but Etna and produces almost nothing of interest when planted low or warm. Harvest here runs in the first ten days of October, late even by Etna standards, and the wine is aged nine months in stainless steel with no oak at any stage. That is deliberate: Carricante's whole argument is acidity and mineral tension, and wood covers both. The wine is green apple, lemon peel, white flowers, anise, and a smoky, ashy minerality that is unmistakably volcanic, with acidity that stays sharp for years and a long, dry, saline finish. Carricante is one of the few Italian whites that genuinely improves with a decade in bottle, and this is the version built for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarc de Grazia spent decades as one of the most influential importers of Italian wine before buying land on Etna's northern slope in 2002 and founding Tenuta delle Terre Nere. He arrived with a Burgundian framework and applied it directly: bottle by contrada, treat the volcano's named districts as crus, and let the differences between them show. That approach is standard practice on Etna now and was not when he started. The estate works old vines on the north face for its reds and reaches across the mountain to Milo for the whites, because that is where Carricante belongs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCut for the sea and for anything fried. Grilled swordfish or sardines, fritto misto, spaghetti alle vongole, or a plate of raw oysters. The acidity is sharp enough to handle fried food without a squeeze of lemon, and the ashy mineral edge meets shellfish where it lives. Serve it cold now, or lay a bottle down for five years and open that one cool.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giuliana","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50610208145631,"sku":null,"price":53.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8040029.jpg?v=1785945065"},{"product_id":"arianna-occhipinti-il-frappato-2024","title":"Arianna Occhipinti il Frappato 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrappato has been documented in Vittoria since at least 1812, and for most of that time it was treated as a blending grape or a thin local red not worth exporting. The ground it grows on is the reason to reconsider. Vittoria sits in Sicily's southeastern corner between the Iblei Mountains and the Mediterranean, and its soils are deep red sand over sub-Apennine calcareous limestone, at roughly 250 to 280 meters. Sand produces pale color, fine tannin, and lift; the limestone underneath supplies acidity and holds moisture through a punishing summer. The sea keeps nights cool. Occhipinti farms about 25 certified organic hectares across nine contrade here, biodynamically since 2009, with the oldest Frappato trained in traditional alberello bush vines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e100% Frappato from vines of roughly forty to forty-five years, hand-harvested, fermented spontaneously in concrete with no temperature control and about thirty days on the skins, then aged fourteen months in 25-hectoliter Slavonian oak botti and bottled unfiltered with minimal sulfur. A month of maceration on a pale-skinned grape sounds excessive and is not: on sand, Frappato gives up structure slowly and never gives up much color. 2024 was a drought year across Sicily, hot and dry with sharply reduced yields, which concentrated what came in. The wine is rose petal, morello cherry, blood orange, white pepper, and dried hay, light to medium in body, with silky tannin, bright acidity, and a long saline finish. Pale in the glass and nothing like the weight the color would suggest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eArianna Occhipinti was sixteen when her uncle Giusto, a founder of COS, brought her along to Vinitaly for four days. She went off to study viticulture, found the coursework interventionist, and came home. In 2004, at twenty-two, she took over one hectare of abandoned vines in Contrada Fossa di Lupo and released her first commercial vintage in 2006. Everything since has followed the same rules: hand harvest, native yeast, no temperature control, no fining, no filtration, sulfur only at bottling, and concrete rather than steel since the gravity-fed cellar was finished in 2014. She is the reason the outside world takes Frappato seriously.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA red that behaves like a white at the table and should be served cool. Grilled swordfish with capers and lemon, pasta alla Norma, roast chicken with olives and herbs, or a plate of tuna crudo. The pale tannin and high acidity mean it can go with fish without either side losing, and the floral aromatics work with tomato and basil rather than fighting them. Put it in the fridge for twenty minutes before you open it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Natural","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50613398044895,"sku":null,"price":53.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8040024.jpg?v=1785944957"},{"product_id":"arianna-occhipinti-frappato-di-contrada-2023","title":"Arianna Occhipinti Frappato di Contrade Cuvée 20 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA contrada is a named district, the Sicilian equivalent of a lieu-dit, and Occhipinti farms across nine of them around Vittoria. In 2016 she began bottling Frappato from three of them separately, Pettineo, Bombolieri, and Fossa di Lupo, on the argument that the differences between these parcels are as legible as anything in Burgundy once you stop covering them up. The common ground is red sand over sub-Apennine calcareous limestone at roughly 250 to 280 meters, between the Iblei Mountains and the sea. The variations are the point: Pettineo runs sandier and gives the silkiest wine; Bombolieri carries the highest chalk content and the finest tannins; Fossa di Lupo has more limestone and delivers sharper acidity and more structure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e100% Frappato from old alberello-trained vines, and a departure from how this series normally works. 2023 marks Occhipinti's twentieth harvest, and to mark it she brought all three contrade together into one bottling rather than releasing them separately: Cuvée 20 is Pettineo, Bombolieri, and Fossa di Lupo assembled in a single wine. Fermentation is spontaneous in concrete with no temperature control and an extended maceration on the skins, followed by aging in large Slavonian oak botti and bottling unfiltered with minimal sulfur. 2023 in Sicily was a hot growing season with real heat spikes, though less severe than the drought that followed in 2024. The wine shows rose petal, sour cherry, blood orange peel, dried oregano, and white pepper, pale in the glass, with the chalk of Bombolieri, the silk of Pettineo, and the acid spine of Fossa di Lupo all doing their part. Longer and more complete than any of the three alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eArianna Occhipinti founded her estate in 2004 at twenty-two with a single hectare of abandoned vines in Contrada Fossa di Lupo and released her first commercial vintage in 2006. She now farms roughly 25 certified organic hectares, biodynamic since 2009, across those nine contrade. Her cellar rules have not changed in two decades: hand harvest, spontaneous fermentation with airborne yeast, no temperature control, no fining, no filtration, sulfur only at bottling, and concrete throughout since the gravity-fed winery was completed in 2014. Twenty vintages in, blending the crus back together is the kind of thing you do once you have already proven they are different.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLight in body and high in acid, so it belongs with food rather than before it. Grilled tuna or swordfish with lemon and capers, pasta with tomato and salted ricotta, roast rabbit with olives, or a plate of prosciutto and young pecorino. Serve it cool, around 60 degrees, and the aromatics come forward rather than the alcohol. It rewards a decant and a slow evening.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Natural","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50613415117023,"sku":null,"price":94.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8040011.jpg?v=1785944678"},{"product_id":"donnafugata-ben-rye-2021","title":"Donnafugata Ben Rye 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePantelleria is closer to Tunisia than to Sicily, a black volcanic island in the middle of the strait where the wind almost never stops. That wind dictates everything about how Zibibbo is grown here. Vines are trained as alberello pantesco, low bush vines planted in shallow hollows scooped out of the volcanic soil so the plant sits below the gusts, each one pruned to keep its arms close to the ground. The island is terraced with dry-stone walls that hold the soil in place on slopes no tractor will ever climb, and everything is done by hand. UNESCO added the practice to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014, the first time a farming technique received that recognition. The soils are volcanic, dark, sandy, and free-draining, and they give Muscat of Alexandria an intensity that the same grape does not reach anywhere else.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e100% Zibibbo, which is Muscat of Alexandria under its Sicilian name. Roughly half the crop is picked early and laid out on open-air racks to dry under the island sun for several weeks, shrinking to raisins that are then hand-destemmed one bunch at a time. Those raisins go into the fermenting must of the later, fresh harvest in stages, so the dried fruit macerates and gives up its sugar and aroma gradually rather than all at once. Fermentation is in temperature-controlled stainless steel, followed by roughly eight months in tank and at least twelve months in bottle before release. The 2023 carries 199 grams per liter of residual sugar against 7.9 grams of total acidity at 14.5% alcohol, which is why it reads as sweet without going syrupy. Dried apricot, golden raisin, candied orange peel, honey, dried mint, and a saline volcanic bite on a very long finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDonnafugata was founded in 1983 by Giacomo Rallo and Gabriella Anca Rallo, whose family had been in the Marsala wine business since the 19th century. Their move was to leave fortified wine behind and bet on Sicily's dry table wines and its islands. The Pantelleria project began at the end of the 1980s, when the island's terraced Zibibbo vineyards were being abandoned in large numbers because the work is punishing and the yields are tiny. Ben Ryé, Arabic for son of the wind, was their argument that the island was worth the labor. The estate is now run by the second generation, José and Antonio Rallo, and the Pantelleria holdings are spread across dozens of small parcels rather than one block, because on this island that is the only way land exists.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSweet wine that is savory enough to go past dessert. Aged Gorgonzola or a washed-rind cheese with walnuts, almond biscotti or cassata, a bowl of dried figs and Marcona almonds, or seared foie gras if the occasion calls for it. The acidity keeps it from cloying against blue cheese, and the salted, dried-fruit character mirrors almond pastry rather than competing with it. Serve it cold, in small pours, and it will outlast the conversation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Breakthru","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50619166785759,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P7310788.jpg?v=1785628336"},{"product_id":"tenuta-delle-terre-nere-etna-rosso-prephylloxera-la-vigna-di-don-peppino-2023","title":"Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso Prephylloxera La Vigna di Don Peppino 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePhylloxera reached Etna in 1881 and took nearly everything. Inside a four-hectare block of Calderara Sottana, directly across from the Terre Nere cellar in the commune of Randazzo, two small parcels survived. The vines there are over 140 years old, still on their own roots, and cover 0.8 hectares in total. This is the north face of the volcano at 600 to 650 meters, the coolest and latest-ripening side, where soils are volcanic pumice mixed with basalt and traces of ash: black, porous, free-draining, and hostile enough that yields stay under five tons per hectare without anyone having to work at it. Ungrafted, pre-phylloxera Nerello Mascalese on the north slope of an active volcano is about as narrow a set of conditions as fine wine gets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e100% Nerello Mascalese from ungrafted vines, north-exposed, with annual production of roughly 4,000 bottles. The wine is pale, translucent, and structurally closer to Burgundy or Barolo than to anything else from southern Italy: violet, rose petal, sour cherry, wild strawberry, blood orange, licorice root, and crushed volcanic rock, with fine, chalky tannin and a long saline finish. 2023 was punishing on Etna. Persistent rain through the critical part of the growing season brought heavy downy mildew pressure, and the year demanded constant vineyard work and hard selection. Marco de Grazia rarely recommends decanting anything. He makes an exception for this bottling, which is slower to open than the standard Calderara and repays the extra air.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarco de Grazia spent years as one of Italy's most influential wine exporters before founding Tenuta delle Terre Nere on Etna's northern slope, and he brought a Burgundian frame of reference with him: single contrade treated as crus, vine age tracked parcel by parcel, minimal extraction, restrained oak. In 2006 he realized the two ungrafted parcels inside Calderara Sottana were something separate and began vinifying them apart from the rest of the vineyard. That decision is essentially what established contrada bottling on Etna as a serious practice rather than a curiosity, and the estate has mapped and separated its holdings that way ever since.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a wine for savory food in moderate portions, not for anything that will bury it. Roast rabbit with herbs and olives, pasta alla Norma with fried eggplant and ricotta salata, grilled swordfish with salmoriglio, or aged pecorino with honey. The chalky tannin and high acidity handle olive oil, tomato, and salt without needing red meat, and the volcanic salinity meets seafood in a way most reds cannot. Decant it an hour before you eat.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giuliana","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51195353694431,"sku":null,"price":190.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8150110_65358328-7e2e-4e7b-8883-8387f39f0940.jpg?v=1786842624"},{"product_id":"frank-cornelissen-susucaru-rosso-2024","title":"Frank Cornelissen “Susucaru” Rosso 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most famous natural red on Etna does not say Etna on the label: Susucaru is bottled as IGP Terre Siciliane, because Frank Cornelissen would rather blend freely across contrade than follow DOC rules. The fruit comes from six sites on the volcano's northern valley — Picciolo, Malpasso, Campo Re, Crasà, Piano Daini, and Feudo di Mezzo — where Cornelissen farms vineyards between 650 and 980 meters. Black volcanic sand drains fast and holds heat by day, while altitude pulls temperatures down hard at night, which is how Nerello Mascalese ripens fully yet keeps its acidity this far south. The 2024 season tested that system: a snowless winter, severe drought, and a harvest that started up to two weeks early, relieved by late-August rains that let the vines finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA field blend of 85 percent Nerello Mascalese with Nerello Cappuccio, Minnella, Alicante Bouschet, and Uva Francesa, made the old Etna way — different varieties, different contrade, one tank. Grapes are destemmed and lightly crushed, fermentation starts from a pied-de-cuve of indigenous yeasts, and the wine sits on its skins for about 30 days before aging in neutral epoxy tanks of 2,500 to 7,000 liters. No fining; a coarse 3-micron cartridge filtration before bottling; sulfur ranges from 15 to 50 mg\/l depending on the year's stability. Pale garnet in the glass, it leads with sour cherry, blood orange peel, crushed lava-rock dust, and dried herbs, then runs light-bodied and fluid with fine, sandy tannin and a saline, peppery finish. Serve it cool.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank Cornelissen is a Belgian former wine trader who settled in Solicchiata on Etna's north slope and bottled his first vintage in 2001, entirely self-taught. His roughly 24-hectare estate includes 13 hectares of old alberello-trained vines, farmed without synthetic chemicals and with as little intervention as he can manage — his stated goal is wine as a pure transmission of territory, not a product of cellar technique. Susucaru, first made in 2003 and now about 35,000 bottles a year, is his entry point: the wine that carried Etna's natural wine movement into shops and restaurants worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePasta alla Norma — fried eggplant, tomato, ricotta salata — matches the wine's acidity to the tomato and its volcanic salinity to the cheese. Grilled swordfish with salmoriglio works because this red is light and tannin-soft enough for fish, and the lemon-oregano sauce echoes its citrus edge. Charred sausage and radicchio off the grill picks up the smoke and bitter-cherry line. Slightly chilled, it is the red you open on a Tuesday when dinner is whatever the market had — and it keeps up.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Benny and Zoid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51288829657311,"sku":null,"price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8280228.jpg?v=1787961526"},{"product_id":"frank-cornelissen-magma-2021","title":"Frank Cornelissen “Magma” 2021","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContrada Barbabecchi hangs on terraces above the village of Solicchiata at 870 to 910 meters, facing north to northeast in Etna's northern valley. This is close to the ceiling of viticulture on the mountain, which is why the wine carries a Terre Siciliane designation rather than Etna DOC. The soil is pure volcanic sand, porous enough that phylloxera never established itself, so the alberello vines here grow on their own roots. The 2021 season had no real winter, no snow in the lower vineyards, light March frost, and then relentless drought, the driest year Cornelissen had farmed to that point.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was no Magma in 2007 or 2018; Cornelissen skips his flagship entirely rather than bottle a vintage without full phenolic ripeness. When it is made, it is 100 percent Nerello Mascalese from the ungrafted old vines of Barbabecchi, destemmed and lightly crushed, fermented with indigenous yeasts through roughly 50 days on the skins, then aged in neutral epoxy tanks and bottle, never oak. In 2021 the Magma parcels were picked October 16, the earliest date in the estate's history, after drought cut yields about 25 percent; October rain arrived just in time to restore sugar-acid balance. Dried strawberry, blood orange, baking spice, and flint over fine, dense tannin, 14.5 percent alcohol, with a smoky mineral finish that unwinds for a full minute.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCornelissen arrived from Belgium in 2001 chasing a Burgundian idea, a single Grand Vin from a single site, and planted his flag on a volcano to do it. Magma 1 came from a tiny parcel that first year, and the wine has remained the estate's summit ever since, made without additions in the cellar and farmed without synthetic chemistry on the terraces. In his own 2021 vintage report he names Magma one of his preferred wines of the year for its overall balance, notable candor from a grower who publicly rates his own difficult vintages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeared duck breast with a cherry and balsamic pan sauce, where Nerello's red-fruit acidity behaves like fine Burgundy. Porcini risotto finished with aged caciocavallo, since earthy umami meets the wine's flint and smoke. Grilled lamb chops with rosemary and anchovy butter, which give the tannins protein and salt to work against. Or simply a wedge of two-year pecorino after dinner. A bottle for the night you have been saving for a reason, and worth decanting an hour ahead.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Benny and Zoid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51288829788383,"sku":null,"price":400.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8280226.jpg?v=1787961526"},{"product_id":"frank-cornelissen-munjebel-bianco-2023","title":"Frank Cornelissen “Munjebel” Bianco 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSicily reads as hot-climate wine country, but Etna's northern valley gets winter snow. Cornelissen's white-grape parcels sit on the volcano's north face around Solicchiata, in the comune of Castiglione di Sicilia, on black volcanic sand and decomposed lava that drains almost instantly. At these elevations the diurnal swings hold acidity in Grecanico Dorato and Carricante deep into fall, which is why a skin-fermented white from an island off North Africa can finish with the cut of a cool-climate wine. This is farming on an active volcano: ash falls, hail strikes, and every vintage on Etna is a negotiation rather than a routine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMunjebel Bianco is a blend of Grecanico Dorato and Carricante in roughly equal parts, destemmed and given about three days of skin maceration, then fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged 16 months in neutral epoxy tanks with no oak anywhere in the process. Three days on skins builds texture without pushing into full orange-wine tannin. Ripe yellow apple, ginger, lime pith, and dried mountain herbs lead into a saline, taut palate with a light phenolic grip; the finish is wet stone and bitter citrus. 2023 was brutal here, per Cornelissen's own vintage report: May and June rain triggered downy mildew at flowering, hail followed, and the estate lost about 70 percent of its crop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank Cornelissen is a Belgian former wine trader, son of a wine broker, who settled on Etna in 2001 when the region was still an afterthought. His premise: intervene as little as possible in vineyard and cellar, and treat the farm as an ecosystem rather than a monoculture, with free-standing alberello vines interplanted with fruit trees and buckwheat, plus beehives. The name Munjebel comes from Mongibello, the old Sicilian name for Etna that fuses the Latin mons with the Arabic jabal, mountain twice over. His whites, once an afterthought even to him, now anchor the range as natural wine from Etna with real structure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrilled swordfish with salmoriglio, since the wine's acidity plays the same role as the lemon-oregano sauce. Spaghetti alle vongole, where the saline finish meets clam brine head-on. Fried artichokes or arancini, because that light skin-contact grip scrubs fried richness cleanly. Roast chicken thighs with preserved lemon and green olives, matching the bitter-citrus finish. The kind of white that turns a Tuesday fish dinner into the reason you cooked at all.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Benny and Zoid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51288829853919,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8280225.jpg?v=1787961526"},{"product_id":"vini-di-luca-virgola-rosso-2022","title":"Vini di Luca Virgola Rosso 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost Etna labels that reach the US come from estates with dozens of hectares and a brand behind them. Vini di Luca is the other Etna: a family plot farmed by one young grower in Contrada Crasà, near Solicchiata in the comune of Castiglione di Sicilia, on the northern slope of the volcano. The vines sit at 650 meters, in the middle of the horseshoe of the Etna DOC, which climbs from roughly 400 to 800 meters around the mountain. The ground is rough, broken volcanic rock that drains fast and forces roots deep. The north side is the cooler, later-ripening face of Etna, with big swings between warm days and cold mountain nights, and that is what gives Nerello Mascalese from here its high-toned fruit and firm acid rather than southern Sicilian weight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVirgola Rosso is 100 percent Nerello Mascalese, hand-harvested and destemmed, then left on its skins for 12 days in vats without temperature control before a gentle pressing. It spends four months in steel, ten months in reconditioned oak barrels and at least six months in bottle before release, so the wood shapes texture more than flavor. Expect sour cherry, wild strawberry and pomegranate, crushed dried herbs and a smoky, stony edge, with tannin that grips but stays fine and a long, savory finish. The 2023 was one of the hardest vintages Etna has seen. A spring with around 400 millimeters of rain brought downy mildew during flowering, and growers on the north slope reported losses above 60 percent. A dry summer followed, harvest ran late, and the surviving grapes came in small and thick-skinned, which tends to mean concentrated reds with firm young tannin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLuca Zumbo has a degree in physics and came to wine through his family's land. After World War II his grandfather split a tenant farm among three sons, and only Luca's father, Salvatore, kept his share planted, working it for decades. That persistence is the reason Luca had old Nerello Mascalese to work with at all. He released his first Virgola Rosso from the 2021 vintage, around 700 bottles, from roughly a third of a hectare between Crasà and a second parcel in Contrada Zottorinoto that the family restored in 2018. The vineyard is farmed organically. The name means \"comma,\" and Luca's reasoning is a physicist's: a comma is a pause inside a sentence, not an ending, and he sees this wine as the start of something rather than a finished statement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the table, Nerello Mascalese behaves like Pinot Noir with extra grip. Pasta alla Norma with fried eggplant, tomato and ricotta salata is the obvious start: the acid meets the tomato and the tannin handles the fried eggplant. Grilled pork sausage with fennel seed and charred broccoli rabe gives the wine fat and bitterness to cut through. Swordfish involtini rolled with breadcrumbs, pine nuts and raisins works because the wine has enough acid for oily fish and not so much tannin that it turns metallic. This is the Etna bottle to open when you want to taste a single family's hillside rather than a winery's house style.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Willette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51373913407711,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P9120269.jpg?v=1789272793"},{"product_id":"calcaneus-etna-rosso-2024","title":"Calcaneus Etna Rosso 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePassopisciaro is a working village on the north side of Mount Etna, and the Calcagno family's vineyards sit just above it at around 650 meters in two of the north slope's best-known contrade, Arcurìa and Feudo di Mezzo. The vines grow on small, winding terraces built in the early 1900s and held up by dry walls of black lava stone. Soils here are volcanic sand and ash, loose and fast-draining, and the altitude brings warm days, cold nights and a late harvest that often runs into October. That combination is why Etna red wine reads so differently from the rest of Sicily: lighter in color, higher in acidity, and more about perfume and minerality than power. Nerello Mascalese from Etna's north side is the benchmark for this style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Calcaneus Etna Rosso 2024 is built on Nerello Mascalese with a small share of Nerello Cappuccio, the traditional Etna pairing, with Cappuccio adding color and soft fruit to Mascalese's structure. The estate has moved toward aging its reds in large, neutral oak casks rather than small barrels, which lets the wine gain texture without picking up oak flavor. 2024 was a hard year on Etna's north side: heavy rain in May and June brought downy mildew during flowering, then summer drought and hail cut yields sharply, and growers made several picking passes to bring in clean fruit. The house style is red cherry and plum, crushed lava stone and dried herbs, with bright acidity, light, fine tannins and a savory, mineral finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrothers Franco and Gianni Calcagno come from a family that has grown grapes around Passopisciaro for generations, selling fruit before bottling their first family wine in 2006. The vineyards are split between Arcurìa and Feudo di Mezzo, with Gianni managing the vineyards and enologist Alessandro Biancolin guiding the cellar. The vines are farmed organically. In Italy the wines carry the Calcagno name; in the United States they are labeled Calcaneus, the Latin root of the family name, after a trademark conflict. Giusy Calcagno, the next generation, now handles visitors at the cellar. This is a small, family-scale Etna producer working some of the mountain's most sought-after ground at a price that still makes sense.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a red built for the table. Try pasta with crumbled pork sausage, wild fennel and a splash of white wine, the acidity cutting through the fat. Arancini filled with meat ragù and peas give the wine's cherry fruit something rich and crisp to work against. Grill thick pork chops and spoon salmoriglio over the top, the lemon, garlic and oregano picking up the wine's herbal edge. Or serve a room-temperature caponata with ricotta salata and grilled bread, where the sweet-sour eggplant meets the wine's bright acid head on. It is the kind of Etna Rosso you open on a Tuesday for dinner and finish without thinking about it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giuliana","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51408057467103,"sku":null,"price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P9170321.jpg?v=1789709889"},{"product_id":"tenuta-delle-terre-nere-moganazzi-etna-rosso-2022","title":"Tenuta delle Terre Nere Moganazzi Etna Rosso 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEtna is not a hot-climate wine region, whatever its Sicilian address suggests. Contrada Moganazzi sits at 700 to 750 meters on the volcano's north face, in the commune of Castiglione di Sicilia, where nights run cold, harvests stretch into October and Nerello Mascalese ripens slowly. The soil is young and not deep: a topsoil of volcanic ash over layers of pebbles and stone, laid down by lava flows that differ from one contrada to the next. That fast-draining, low-fertility ground keeps vigor down and gives the wine its dusty, mineral edge. The north slope is divided into contrade much like Burgundy's crus, and Moganazzi is one of the sites that shows how precisely Etna red wine can reflect a single piece of the mountain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Terre Nere Moganazzi Etna Rosso 2022 is 100% Nerello Mascalese from a single contrada. Fermentation runs at a controlled 28 to 30°C, malolactic follows spontaneously, and the wine then spends 16 to 18 months in French barriques and tonneaux plus one month in steel before bottling. The oak shapes texture more than flavor, rounding the grip of Nerello's tannin without covering the fruit. The 2022 season on the north side turned dry from June, with August rain bringing relief and hail touching some sites at harvest, and the wines came in with texture and ripe fruit. Violet, blood orange, dusty black cherry, clove and cinnamon stick, then crushed stone and dried red and blue fruit, brisk acidity and fine, chalky tannins that carry a long, fresh finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarc de Grazia made his name in the 1980s championing the new wave of Barolo producers before turning his attention to Etna. He released the first Tenuta delle Terre Nere wines in 2002, the same year he called Etna \"the Burgundy of the Mediterranean,\" and 2004 was the first vintage made entirely in the estate's own cellar. The Burgundian idea runs through everything: Burgundy-shaped bottles, and Nerello Mascalese vinified and bottled contrada by contrada, with around 70 separate micro-vinifications of Nerello each year. The vineyards are farmed organically, with only copper-based Bordeaux mixture in the vines and manure as fertilizer. The labels are drawn by de Grazia's daughter, a small family detail on one of the wineries that put Etna on the modern wine map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNerello has the acidity and fine tannin to handle food that would flatten a heavier red. Try pasta alla Norma with fried eggplant, tomato and a heavy grating of ricotta salata, the acidity lifting the sweet, oily eggplant. Grill fennel pork sausages over charcoal and serve them with broccoli rabe and chili, letting the spice meet the clove and cinnamon in the glass. Roast duck breast finished with a blood orange pan sauce mirrors the wine's citrus side. Or go simple with swordfish steaks grilled with capers, olives and oregano, where the brine and herbs sharpen the wine's mineral edge. This is the bottle for the night you want a serious red that still leaves room for the next glass.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giuliana","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51408057893087,"sku":null,"price":64.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P9170324.jpg?v=1789709889"},{"product_id":"monteleone-etna-bianco-2025","title":"Monteleone Etna Bianco 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCarricante's recognized home is not the north slope. The grape's historic heart is the eastern face of the volcano above Milo, the only commune permitted to bottle Etna Bianco Superiore, and that is where most serious Etna white wine comes from. Monteleone works both sides. Fruit comes off the eastern slope at Sant'Alfio, where volcanic soils sit close enough to the Ionian Sea to catch its humidity and rain, and off the northern slope above Castiglione di Sicilia, where the volcanic sand carries clay and limestone and the ground has been cut and reworked by the Alcantara River. Plantings climb to 900 meters, and up there the nights drop hard even in August. That diurnal swing keeps Carricante's acidity intact while the skins finish ripening.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is 100% Carricante, no Catarratto in the blend. Fruit is picked in the early morning to come into the cellar cold, then gently pressed. The juice settles naturally for 48 hours before fermentation in stainless steel. The wine then spends six months on fine lees, split between stainless and concrete tanks, followed by six months in bottle before release. Lees contact in concrete rather than oak builds texture and a faint savory depth without putting any wood between you and the volcano. Expect white flowers, lemon pith, green apple skin and wet stone, then ripe yellow fruit and citrus with a salty, mineral drive and a long, dry finish. The 2025 season was a relief on Etna after the mildew pressure of 2024, cooler and more even, and altitude plus diurnal range delivered whites with real tension and low alcohol.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMonteleone is a micro-estate founded in 2017 by Giulia Monteleone, a Palermo journalist, and her husband Benedetto Alessandro, an enologist who built his reputation consulting at Tenuta di Fessina, with Giulia's father Enrico involved from the start. Their home base is Contrada Cuba in Castiglione di Sicilia, just under 500 meters, which is low by Etna standards, set against the Alcantara canyon with trees nearby moderating temperature. The upper block was planted in 1935 to bush-trained, ungrafted Nerello Mascalese; the lower block dates to 1970. The Carricante parcel at Sant'Alfio went in during 2008. Everything is farmed organically, and parcels are vinified separately. Giulia has campaigned to have Contrada Cuba recognized as its own named contrada, which tells you how seriously this family takes the question of site.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCarricante was built for fish. Grill swordfish over high heat and hit it with salmoriglio, lemon juice, oregano and olive oil whisked warm, and the wine's salinity meets the char head on. Linguine alle vongole, heavy on parsley and a little chile, works because the wine already tastes faintly of seawater. A whole branzino roasted with fennel fronds and good oil gives the yellow-fruit side of the wine something rich to sit against. Finish with a wedge of aged pecorino, where the acidity cuts the fat cleanly. This is the bottle for the night you detour to the fish counter on the way home and decide to cook properly.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Old World","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67575130489055,"sku":null,"price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P9270422.jpg?v=1790548337"},{"product_id":"vini-di-luca-virgola-bianco-2023","title":"Vini di Luca Virgola Bianco 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a wine grown on Mount Etna that is not allowed to put Etna on the label. Virgola Bianco goes out as Terre Siciliane IGT, the catch-all Sicilian designation, even though the Carricante grows in Contrada Zottorinoto on the volcano's northern slope, inside the horseshoe band between roughly 400 and 800 meters where the Etna DOC is drawn. Luca Zumbo bought that parcel in 2018 and planted it himself, laying the vines out in a quincunx pattern with 1.20 meters between plants, tight spacing that keeps each vine carrying very little fruit. The ground is loose volcanic sand and lapilli, black and free-draining, so roots go down rather than sideways. North-slope Etna also means cold nights funneling off the summit, and that drop is what holds the acid in a grape picked under Sicilian sun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVirgola Bianco is 100% Carricante, hand-harvested, and it never sees wood. Fermentation and aging happen entirely in stainless steel, with five months on fine lees and batonnage three times a week. Malolactic fermentation is deliberately blocked, so the malic acid stays intact and the wine lands sharp and vertical rather than creamy. The stirring adds just enough weight to carry that acidity. White peach, citrus blossom, lemon zest and green apple skin, then almond and dried Mediterranean herbs, and a finish that reads frankly saline. Production runs in the hundreds of bottles, not the thousands. The 2024 growing season was a hard one across Italy, with spring downy mildew taking a serious bite out of crops, and a hot summer behind it. Etna's altitude and volcanic drainage blunted the worst of both, and the whites came in fresh and taut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLuca Zumbo holds a degree in physics, not enology. He farms with his father Salvatore on land his grandfather acquired after the Second World War, and the whole operation covers less ground than a city block. The red comes from Contrada Crasa, three-tenths of a hectare at 650 meters planted to old head-trained Nerello Mascalese. The white comes from the Zottorinoto parcel he added in 2018. Farming is organic in practice, and the cellar work is deliberately minimal, built on the idea that balance matters more than power and place matters more than technique. The name is the point: virgola means comma in Italian, and Luca chose it because a comma marks a continuation rather than an ending. Natural wine from Sicily rarely comes this small, and nothing about it is replicable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStart with sardines, grilled whole or stuffed with breadcrumbs, pine nuts and currants in the Palermo style, where the oily fish needs the wine's acid to reset the mouth. Sea bream crudo with good olive oil, flaky salt and lemon plays directly to the saline finish. Panelle, the Sicilian chickpea fritters, fried hot and salted hard, work on texture against that stainless-steel tension. Or steam clams with garlic and parsley and spoon the broth over pasta. This is the bottle you open standing up in the kitchen while something simple cooks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Willette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67575131570399,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P9270413.jpg?v=1790548337"},{"product_id":"i-vigneri-di-salvo-foti-i-vigneri-rosso-2025","title":"I Vigneri di Salvo Foti I Vigneri Rosso 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eModern Etna wineries ferment in steel tanks with temperature control. This red is made in a palmento, the multilevel lava-stone press house that Etna used for centuries before refrigeration arrived. I Vigneri's palmento, Palmento Caselle, stands in Milo on the volcano's eastern slope, and the consortium's members farm vineyards spread across several of Etna's slopes, including Milo, Castiglione di Sicilia on the north side, and Bronte to the northwest. Everything is planted in alberello, the head-trained bush vine of Etna, at high density on sandy volcanic soils. Alberello takes roughly twice the labor of wire-trained vines, nearly all of it by hand, and that work is the point of this project. The cool nights at altitude preserve acidity, and the black sand gives Nerello Mascalese its smoky, stony frame.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe I Vigneri Rosso 2025 from Salvo Foti is built on Nerello Mascalese with a smaller share of Nerello Cappuccio; most importer and retailer sources give 90 percent Mascalese and 10 percent Cappuccio. Grapes are trodden by foot in the palmento, left whole with their stems, and macerate for about eight days before running by gravity into terracotta amphorae buried below. The wine rests about six months in amphora without racking, and transfers and bottling follow the phases of the moon. Foot treading and stems give a lifted, slightly herbal crunch, and clay keeps the fruit transparent. In past vintages it has poured light ruby with crushed ash, dried rose, lavender and smoky black cherry, then brisk acidity, edgy tannins and a raspberry and spice finish. Sicilian producers reported a mild, even 2025 season, with a harvest stretching to early November on Etna.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe name reaches back to 1435, when Catania's vineyard workers organized as the Maestranza dei Vigneri, a guild of skilled vine tenders. Salvo Foti, born in Catania, revived the name for a group of growers and workers who farm and make wine the old way. Foti is often called the godfather of modern Etna: Giuseppe Benanti hired him as winemaker in 1988, and he spent more than two decades there and at estates such as Gulfi, helping define how the volcano's contrade were understood. I Vigneri is his personal answer. He calls the results \"human wines\" rather than natural wines, rejects biotechnology in the cellar, and farms by hand with copper and sulfur, using mules on terraces where machines cannot go.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGive it a slight chill. Pizza margherita from a hot oven is the classic match: the acidity meets the tomato and the light tannin handles the mozzarella. Arancini stuffed with beef ragù and peas suit the wine's herbal crunch. Grilled Sicilian sausage with fennel seed picks up the smoke. And caponata, the sweet and sour eggplant stew with olives and capers, shows how well this red handles vinegar. Pour it for friends who want to taste what Etna wine was before the modern boom.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Natural","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67904426574047,"sku":null,"price":52.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PA030464.jpg?v=1791074000"},{"product_id":"ciro-biondi-etna-bianco-outis-2025","title":"Ciro Biondi Etna Bianco “Outis” 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe best Etna whites are supposed to come from Milo, on the volcano's eastern face. Trecastagni, farther south on the same seaward side, makes the case that the whole southeastern flank deserves the attention. Ciro Biondi's terraces face east toward the Ionian Sea at about 640 meters, close enough to catch the sea breeze that keeps Carricante taut through a Sicilian summer. Chianta, where the estate's white grapes grow alongside Nerello, sits mostly inside an ancient caldera from around 125 BC, its vines climbing the steep western ridge on loose volcanic sand. The ash-light topsoil drains instantly, and the altitude cools the nights. That combination is why Carricante from Etna holds acidity that most Mediterranean whites lose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ciro Biondi Etna Bianco Outis 2025 is mostly Carricante, about 90 percent according to the importer's tech sheet, with the balance from Catarratto, Minnella and other local white varieties grown in the same rows. Per that sheet, the grapes ferment at low temperature in stainless steel with selected yeasts, then rest six months on the lees in steel before a coarse filtration. Steel keeps the fruit clean and the lees add a fuller, slightly creamy middle without any oak. Look for pale straw in the glass, then lemon peel, white peach, chamomile and wet stone. The palate is medium-bodied and dry, with bright acidity, a glossy texture and a saline, faintly bitter almond finish. Sicilian growers called 2025 a near-ideal year on Etna, with steady rain, a mild summer, and healthy, abundant Carricante.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Biondi family has held vineyards on Etna since the 1600s and bottled wine under its own name by the late 1800s. In the years around World War I, Ciro's great-uncle Salvatore Biondi and grandfather Cirino brought the wines to fairs in Casale Monferrato, Paris, Lyon, Cuneo and Milan, and the family records an honor by royal appointment to King Vittorio Emanuele III. After World War II the business faded, and bottling stopped entirely in 1960. Ciro, trained as an architect, revived it with his wife Stephanie in 1999, working out of the family's centuries-old cellar in Trecastagni. They farm organically and named this wine after Odysseus's trick on the Cyclops: Outis, \"no one.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eServe it cool, not ice cold. Pasta con le sarde, with fresh sardines, wild fennel, raisins and toasted breadcrumbs, is the Sicilian match, since the acidity cuts the oily fish and the bitter finish echoes the fennel. Grilled swordfish with capers and lemon wants the same salinity. Fried artichokes with sea salt lean on the wine's texture to handle the crisp batter. And a plate of raw oysters with a squeeze of lemon lets the stony side show. Keep a bottle cold for the first warm evening on the patio.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stelvio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67907678044383,"sku":null,"price":44.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PA030459.jpg?v=1791073999"},{"product_id":"ciro-biondi-etna-rosso-outis-2025","title":"Ciro Biondi Etna Rosso “Outis” 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOutis is Greek for \"no one,\" the name Odysseus gave the Cyclops before blinding him and escaping the island. Ciro Biondi chose it for the wine that introduces his family's vineyards above Trecastagni, on Etna's southeastern slope. Fruit comes from the estate's three terraced vineyards, Chianta, San Nicolò and Cisterna Fuori, the last in Contrada Ronzini, at about 640 meters on east-facing ground. Several of these terraces climb the walls of extinct side craters, one dating to around 125 BC and another roughly 12,000 years old, held up by dry-stone walls Ciro's grandfather built. Soils are loose volcanic sand and black pumice, iron-rich in places. The southeast is warmer and more sheltered from wind than the famous north slope, and it gives Nerello paler color and more perfume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ciro Biondi Etna Rosso Outis blends 80 percent Nerello Mascalese with 20 percent Nerello Cappuccio, the maximum Cappuccio the appellation allows. Grapes macerate for 11 days and ferment in stainless steel at controlled low temperature with selected yeasts. The wine then ages about 10 months in a mix of steel tanks and neutral barrels and goes to bottle without fining or filtration. No new wood touches it. In past vintages Outis has poured light garnet going pink at the rim, with wild strawberry, red cherry, blood orange peel, rose petal and a little smoke. The body is medium, the acidity bright, the tannins fine and moderate, and the finish turns earthy and mineral. It is a wine built for drinking young, with enough structure to reward a year or two in the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Biondi family exported Etna wine to the United States before World War I, then stopped bottling in 1960 after Ciro's grandfather died and sold their grapes in bulk for decades. Ciro's father steered him away from wine, and Ciro became an architect instead. In 1999 he came back, and with his British wife Stephanie he began restoring the family terraces one wall at a time. The story nearly ended badly: after a split with business partners, Biondi recovered more than 2,000 gallons of his own wine, including his first two vintages of Cisterna Fuori, in a nighttime operation in April 2012. Today the couple farm their own vineyards organically and keep production small.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTreat it like a Burgundy village wine and serve it around 58 degrees. Roast chicken with lemon, thyme and crisped skin is the first call, since the acidity lifts the fat and the fine tannin leaves the meat tender. Pasta with pork ragù and pecorino gives the red fruit something rich to push against. Grilled tuna steak with salmoriglio, the Sicilian oregano and lemon sauce, works because the light tannin will not turn metallic against oily fish. Or set out a board of finocchiona and fresh caciocavallo. Open it on a weeknight when you want red wine that will not wear you out.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stelvio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67907678077151,"sku":null,"price":51.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PA030460.jpg?v=1791073999"},{"product_id":"benanti-contrada-monte-serra-etna-rosso-2022","title":"Benanti Contrada \"Monte Serra\" Etna Rosso 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost of the Etna Rosso that crosses our counter grows on the volcano's north side, around Passopisciaro and Solicchiata. Monte Serra is the other Etna. The contrada sits in Viagrande on the southeastern flank, 450 meters above sea level, facing southeast toward the Ionian Sea and the city of Catania. That is lower and warmer than the northern crus. The soil is volcanic sand, mineral-rich and mildly acidic at pH 6.4, studded with old pumice stones the locals call ripiddu. Vines are trained as alberello at roughly 9,000 plants per hectare, and Benanti documents a range from 14-year-old plantings to vines past 100. Nerello Mascalese from Etna's south slope shows riper red fruit and softer edges than its northern cousin, which is the whole reason to taste this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Benanti Contrada Monte Serra Etna Rosso 2022 is 100 percent Nerello Mascalese, hand-picked, fully destemmed and fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel with a 21-day maceration. Fermentation runs on a yeast strain Benanti selected from its own Etna vineyards. The wine then spends 12 months in used French oak tonneaux, rests in steel, and sees about 10 months in bottle before release; alcohol is 14 percent. Destemming and used wood keep the tannin fine. Expect pale ruby with garnet at the rim, then a nose of red cherry, wild strawberry, dried rose and baking spice. The body is medium to full, the tannins firm but polished, and the finish runs long on red fruit and a smoky, stony edge. Benanti describes 2022 as one of the warmest years on record, but regular winter rain filled the soils and a clean flowering set full, well-formed bunches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Benanti family has made wine since the late 1800s, but the modern winery dates to 1988, when Giuseppe Benanti, then running the family pharmaceutical company, decided Etna deserved serious study. He hired a young enologist named Salvo Foti, brought in academics from Piedmont and Burgundy, and mapped which contrade gave which wines, years before Etna became fashionable. Giuseppe handed the estate to his twin sons, Antonio and Salvino, in 2012. They work only with native grapes, Carricante, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, across vineyards on four of the volcano's slopes, and they farm organically. The Contrade line exists to show those slopes side by side, and Monte Serra is the family's home ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePour it slightly cool, around 60 to 64 degrees. Pasta alla Norma with fried eggplant, tomato and ricotta salata is the Catania classic, and the wine's acidity cuts the oil while its red fruit meets the tomato. Grilled lamb chops with rosemary and garlic work because the tannin grips the fat without overpowering the meat. Try sausage and broccoli rabe pizza from a wood oven, where smoke meets smoke. For something vegetarian, roast porcini over polenta with Parmigiano, an earthy match for the wine's stony finish. This is the bottle for a Tuesday dinner that deserves a little more attention than usual.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"RBG","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67910094094559,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PA030453.jpg?v=1791073999"},{"product_id":"girolamo-russo-etna-rosso-a-rina-2024","title":"Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso a' Rina 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSicily spent 2024 in a drought that cut the island's grape harvest by about 20 percent, yet Etna moved the other way. The Etna DOC consortium forecast a 60 percent jump in wine production over 2023, which downy mildew had battered. The difference is altitude. Girolamo Russo farms the volcano's north slope around Passopisciaro, with vineyards between 650 and 780 meters, set among hazelnut and olive groves. The soils are sciara, lava flows that cooled and broke down over centuries into black volcanic sand. The wine's name says as much: 'a Rina is Sicilian for sand. Height brings cool nights and a long, slow ripening season, which is why Nerello Mascalese from the north side keeps its acidity and perfume in years that cook the rest of Sicily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Girolamo Russo 'a Rina Etna Rosso 2024 is the estate's blend across its north-slope contrade, built from younger vines, mostly Nerello Mascalese with a little Nerello Cappuccio. The hand-picked fruit is fermented with skin contact, then rests for about a year in large wood and cement before bottling. Large neutral casks shape the tannin without adding oak flavor. Alcohol is 14.5 percent. Etna growers describe 2024 as hot and dry, with late-summer showers that helped the higher sites finish ripening. Expect pale ruby, then wild strawberry, sour cherry, dried rose and crushed stone. Medium body, fine-grained tannins and bright acidity lead to a savory, smoky finish. This is Nerello Mascalese from Etna at its most direct.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiuseppe Russo did not set out to make wine. He trained as a concert pianist and studied literature before returning to Passopisciaro, where his father Girolamo had farmed the family's Etna vineyards for decades, selling the grapes in bulk to local producers. When Girolamo died in 2005, Giuseppe refounded the estate under his father's name and began bottling the wine himself. He now works vineyards in several north-slope contrade, including San Lorenzo, Feudo, Feudo di Mezzo and Calderara Sottana, much of it old bush-trained Nerello Mascalese, and he vinifies each contrada separately. The single-contrada bottlings sit at the top of the range. 'a Rina is the wine that brings those sites together, and the clearest way into a producer who helped define the modern north side.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eServe it a little cool, around 60 degrees. Pasta alla Norma with fried eggplant, tomato and ricotta salata is the obvious Sicilian match: the acidity cuts the oil and the red fruit meets the tomato. Grilled swordfish steaks with salmoriglio, the lemon, oregano and olive oil sauce, work because the wine's fine tannin does not fight the fish. Try pork sausages with roasted fennel and onions, where the smoky finish picks up the char. For a vegetarian option, sauté mushrooms with garlic and thyme and spoon them over soft polenta. This is the red to open on a weeknight when you want Etna without waiting for it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stelvio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67950244266207,"sku":null,"price":52.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PA170560.jpg?v=1792285080"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/collections\/image.webp?v=1742327989","url":"https:\/\/danverwinemerchant.com\/collections\/etna.oembed","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}