Sicily, Italy
The protagonist of this project is winemaker Giulia Monteleone, who along with her father Enrico and boyfriend Benedetto Alessandro, has been making exceptional wines in since 2017 from their roughly two-hectare vineyard near the river Alcantara at the foot of Mount Etna, on the northern slop of the volcano in two different districts: Cuba and Pontale Palino. The territorial differences between the two districts are deep, hence why the vinification of each lot is carried out separately. In Contrada Cuba the lots planted with vines are two: about a hectare and a half is trained in the espalier system and dates back to 1970; the remaining half hectare are albarello-trained and date back to 1935. Contrada Pontale Palino, at around 700 meters above sea level, adds another 0.3 ha of pre-phylloxera bush-trained ungrafted vines for Etna Rosso DOC while their Carricante is cultivated in Sant’Alfio on the eastern slope of the volcano to produce Etna Bianco DOC.