An Eruption of Fine Wine on Mount Etna
BY ERIC GUIDO | MAY 29, 2025
In last year's article, “Unveiling the Diverse Palette of Sicily, New Releases and Beyond,” I wrote, “Mark my words, the day Mount Etna receives its own individual coverage, much like the regions of Piedmont, Montalcino and Burgundy, will soon be upon us. The progress I’ve witnessed in the past decade is nothing short of amazing.” Well, that day has come. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long. Having gained its initial recognition through Etna Rosso and now even more so through Etna Bianco, Mount Etna has established itself as one of the world’s foremost viticultural areas.
Etna’s complex division of contrade and diverse terroirs make it a treasure trove of site-specific wines. The Etna DOC, which accounts for Rosso, Bianco and Rosato, spans elevations from 450 meters up to 1,200 meters in the south and 800 meters in the north, with unique soils and mineral deposits created by millennia of lava flows. To this day, constant volcanic activity results in varying degrees of ash and volcanic stone deposits across the entire region. The Etna DOC covers the volcano's north, south and east sides, yet not the west side, due to a history of active lava flows that regularly destroyed vineyards in the area.
Nerello Mascalese is the king of the north. This side of the volcano is warm, with a cooling influence from the Nebrodi and Peloritani Mountains. It’s also the historical center of Etna’s fine red wine production. In the east, Carricante takes center stage. The mix of generally wet conditions and cooler temperatures prevents winemakers from rearing notable reds, but it’s a perfect environment for whites. The south is a warmer area with southern exposures where vineyards reach elevations up to 1,200 meters. Both Nerello Mascalese and Carricante thrive here, yielding wines with rounder, richer fruit profiles. Though some might argue that wines of the south lacked importance historically, current producers like Benanti and Idda (Gaja’s project in partnership with Alberto Graci) prove the area’s mettle. With vineyards outside the 800-meter DOC limit on the north slope, producers often bottle these wines under the lesser classification Terre Siciliane because the fruit comes from elevations above the legal limit. Many of these sites did not perform well before the onset of global warming, such as those in Contrada Barbabecchi and Contrada Sciaranuova. Even today, a cool vintage can produce underripe fruit at these high elevations. But when the fruit does ripen, the results can be spellbinding.
Velvety dunes of ash at the Porcaria vineyard in Contrada Fuedo di Mezzo.
Mount Etna's grand scale is hard to quantify, but luckily, the region began developing an organizational structure in 1960s during the inception of the Etna DOC, now totaling 142 individual contrade. The term contrada is best described as a neighborhood of vineyards in a general location, sharing similar elevations yet a multitude of distinct soil types. It’s not a perfect system, but it is an excellent stepping stone in the right direction that provides winemakers and consumers with a useful tool to understand a wine’s sense of place.
Subscriber Access Only
or Sign Up
Mount Etna has arrived. Long anticipated to join the ranks of Piedmont, Montalcino and Burgundy, Etna has established itself as a world-class viticultural zone. The region’s intricate array of contrade, distinctive vineyards and diverse terroirs yields site-transparent wines of incredible complexity. Mount Etna and its winemakers are poised to finally receive the attention they deserve.
Show all the wines (sorted by score)
Producers in this Article
- Alta Mora
- Antichi Vinai
- Barone di Villagrande
- Benanti
- Biondi
- Calcagno
- Casale 120
- Castello Solicchiata
- Cottanera
- DBE - De Bartoli Etna
- Donnafugata
- Eduardo Torres Acosta
- Emiliano Falsini
- Eudes
- Famiglia Statella
- Frank Cornelissen
- Generazione Alessandro
- Giovanni Rosso
- Girolamo Russo
- Graci
- Grottafumata
- Gulfi
- Iuppa
- I Vigneri
- Massimo Lentsch
- Maugeri
- Mecori
- Monteleone
- Murgo
- Palmento Costanzo
- Passopisciaro
- Pietradolce
- Planeta
- Tasca d'Almerita - Tenuta Tascante
- Tenuta Bastonaca
- Tenuta Boccarossa
- Tenuta delle Terre Nere
- Tenuta di Fessina
- Tenute Bosco
- Tenute Nicosia
- Terra Costantino
- Tornatore
- Vigneti Vecchio
Related Articles
2025
2024
- Umbria: Peeling Back the Layers (Oct 2024)
- Abruzzo: Trials and Tribulations (Sep 2024)
- Tiberio's Fonte Canale: Redefining Trebbiano d'Abruzzo (Aug 2024)
- Unveiling the Diverse Palette of Sicily: New Releases and Beyond (Jun 2024)
- Getting in on the Ground Floor: Aglianico del Vulture (May 2024)
- Breaking the Mold: Campania’s Push to Reinvent Itself (May 2024)
- Marche Stays the Course Amidst Future Uncertainty (May 2024)
2023
- Sardinia: Winemaking in the Extreme (Nov 2023)
- Tipping the Scales: New Releases from Umbria (Oct 2023)
- Surpassing Expectations: New Releases from Sicily (Sep 2023)
- Chomping at the Bit: New Releases from Abruzzo (Aug 2023)
- Southern Italy: Diamonds in the Rough (Jul 2023)
- Campania: Change Is Imminent…Or Is It? (Jun 2023)
- Emilia-Romagna: Opposite Ends of the Spectrum (Mar 2023)
2022
- Umbria: Taking It to the Next Level (Nov 2022)
- The Unrealized Potential of Marche (Nov 2022)
- Decoding Emidio Pepe: 13 Vintages of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Vecchie Vigne (Oct 2022)
- Abruzzo: The Great Divide (Oct 2022)
- Basilicata: Vulture’s Rise from the Ashes (Sep 2022)
- Sicily: Welcome to the Revolution (Jun 2022)
- Wines from Italy’s Volcanic Arc: Campania (Jan 2022)
2021
- Italy’s Ace in the Hole: Marche (Oct 2021)
- Umbria & Lazio: Italy’s Underdogs (Aug 2021)
- Cellar Favorite: 2008 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso Feudo di Mezzo Il Quadro delle Rose (Aug 2021)
- Cellar Favorite: 2008 Galardi Terra di Lavoro Roccamonfina Rosso (Aug 2021)
- Treasures of Italy’s Southern Adriatic and Ionian Coasts (Jul 2021)
- Sicily: The Island Nation (Jun 2021)
- Abruzzo and Molise: More Than Meets the Eye (Apr 2021)
- Cellar Favorite: 2014 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco Santo Spirito Cuvée delle Vigne Niche (Apr 2021)
2020
- Cellar Favorite: 1998 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici Riserva (Dec 2020)
- Cellar Favorite: 2014 Tiberio Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colle Vota (Oct 2020)
- Verdicchio – Italy’s Killer V (Sep 2020)
- Central Italy’s Best-Kept Secrets (Jun 2020)
- Cellar Favorite: 2004 Guastaferro Taurasi Primum (May 2020)
- Campania: Forgotten Realms (May 2020)
- Latest Releases: Calabria, Basilicata, Puglia and Sardinia (Feb 2020)
- Gulfi Nero d’Avola Nerosanloré: 2001-2015 (Jan 2020)
- Tiberio Pecorino Colline Pescaresi 2005-2018 (Jan 2020)
2019
- Campania 2018: Early Appeal And Accessibility (Nov 2019)
- Vinous Table: Terrazza Bosquet, Sorrento, Italy (Oct 2019)
- Vinous Table: Osteria Veglio, La Morra, Italy (Sep 2019)
- Abruzzo and Molise: Another Brick in the Wall (Sep 2019)
- Vinous Table: Piazzetta Milù, Naples, Italy (Aug 2019)
- Sicily: Where Great Wines and Lava Flow (Aug 2019)
- Vinous Table: Il Silene, Pescina, Italy (Jun 2019)
- Lazio: New Vintages, New Discoveries (Jun 2019)
- Sartarelli Verdicchio Balciana: 2007-2015 (Feb 2019)
2018
- Campania: More Than Just Fiano, Greco and Aglianico (Nov 2018)
- New Releases from Abruzzo and Molise: A Mixed Bag (Sep 2018)
- Vinous Table: Terrazza Vittoria, Sorrento, Italy (Sep 2018)
- Vinous Table: Mammà, Capri, Italy (Aug 2018)
- Sardinia's Wines: High Quality, Low Visibility (March 2018)
- Vinous Table: The Corner Townhouse, Rome, Italy (Feb 2018)
- New Releases from the Marche: Life Beyond Verdicchio? (Feb 2018)
2017
- Tasca d’Almerita’s Rosso del Conte: 1979 – 2012 (Oct 2017)
- Sicily Continues To Progress (Sep 2017)
- Feudo Montoni’s Nero d’Avola Lagnusa and Vrucara: A Definitive Tasting of Two Great Italian Reds (Sep 2017)
- The Wines of Lazio: There’s Potential Gold in Those Hills (Aug 2017)
- Abruzzo & Molise: This Year It’s Reds Over Whites (Jun 2017)
- The Wines of Basilicata: Paradise Lost and Regained (Apr 2017)
2016
- Donnafugata's Mille e Una Notte: 1995-2011 (Dec 2016)
- Sicily: Moving Fast While Slowly Rediscovering its Past (Dec 2016)
- Elena Fucci Aglianico del Vulture Titolo: 2000-2014 (Dec 2016)
- Benito Ferrara Greco di Tufo Vigna Cicogna: 2008-2015 (Nov 2016)
- The Wines of Campania: Getting Better and Better (Nov, 2016)
- Sardinia on a Roll (Oct 2016)
- Abruzzo and Molise Coming of Age (Aug 2016)
- Argiolas Turriga – Looking Back at an Italian Icon: 2012-1988 (Aug 2016)
- Umbria – New Releases (Jun 2016)
- Italy’s 2015 Rosatos: Full-Bodied and Luscious (Apr 2016)
- Barberani’s Orvieto Classico Superiore Luigi e Giovanna (Apr 2016)
- Sardinia: Sun, Sea, Sand and Alluring Wines (Jan 2016)
2015
- Sicily: The Challenge of Turning Great Potential Into Great Wines (Dec 2015)
- Campania: Made in Italy (Sep 2015)
- New Releases from the Marche: Something for Everyone (Jul 2015)
- Cellar Favorite: 2001 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Jun 2015)
- Looking at Italy Through Rosé Tinted Glasses: Cerasuolo, Rosato, Ramato and Chiaretto (Jun 2015)
- The Wines of Abruzzo and Molise (May 2015)
- Taurasi Rising - Cantine Lonardo (May 2015)
2014
2013
2011
2009