Opening a Bottle’s editor-in-chief, Kevin Day, just returned from a week on Mount Etna. There he attended the annual Etna Days event hosted by the Consorzio Vini Tutela Etna, a showcase of the region’s wines for top wine-industry journalists.
In Part One of his three-part tasting report on Etna and its different categories of wine, Day curates for paying subscribers the 10 best Etna Bianco wines to seek out in the coming months. He also provides a summary of what’s new with the appellation. Part 2 focuses on the wines of Etna Rosso while Part 3 centers on Etna Spumante and Etna Rosato.
As always, AI was not used in the creation of any content below.
What’s New on Etna
Etna has become Italy’s most compelling terroir for all wines: sparkling, white, rosé and red.
This year’s edition of Etna Days felt like an opportunity to go even deeper into what has become Italy’s most compelling terroir for all wines: sparkling, white, rosé and red.
It takes a long time to traverse this sprawling volcano which takes up 459 square miles of Sicily’s eastern shore. It takes even longer to fully appreciate and understand the various producers, wealth of grape varieties, multitude of microclimates and wine styles being explored today. But I am getting there, rapidly, thanks to this event. I have been so compelled by this place that I extended my stay by three days to go even further down the road in pursuit of deeper Etna expertise. But I have another motive: in the next few years, I hope to lead a wine study trip for my readers.
Barely Down Sales Equals a Hot Commodity
On day one at Il Picciolo Etna Golf Resort, where we were based, we were presented with some sales figures on the U.S. market which served as a flex on Etna’s rising stature. Right now, wine sales in our country are poor: inventory is high while sales have dropped 9% year-over-year. This slump is due in part to generational change and overall anti-alcohol sentiment amongst younger consumers.
Within this slump, Italian wine sales are down 6.4%, but Etna is holding steady, just down a mere 0.2%. What’s driving this — according to Carlo Flamini, head of the Wine Observatory Unione Italiana Vini, who presented these figures — is growth in Etna Bianco and the Midwest markets, which includes Colorado where I live. Etna wines are well represented on wine lists, and they move, especially the white wines.
Having gone through the technical tasting and days upon days of producer visits, I know why: Etna Bianco is a stunningly good wine, expressive of terroir, impossible to duplicate elsewhere, and its low in alcohol. In other words, it literally checks every box on “what’s trendy with wine right now.”
The DOCG Movement
There is now a process in motion to convert Etna DOC into the Etna DOCG, Italy’s “highest” level designation of controlled origin. This would put Etna on “equal” footing with Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico, Amarone della Valpolicella and Fiano di Avellino (but also Moscato di Scanzo, Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato, Suvereto, Conero Rosso Riserva and dozens more you’ve never heard of).
I think Italy’s system of “guaranteeing” the quality of an appellation with more specific regulations has been broken for some time, and I don’t think this move will change anything other than some bureaucratic technicalities (and force me to revise my article where I rave about Etna as a DOC!). Producers have said the code will not change significantly, and while there may be some higher mandated percentages for Carricante and Nerello Mascalese on the Etna Bianco and Etna Rosso levels respectively, it will be minor adjustments and, more importantly, there will continue to be a practice of field blending — which in Etna’s ancient vineyards is a key aspect of its heritage.
It is expected to take 2 or 3 years for the DOCG standing to push through the cogs of the Italian bureaucracy. There is no question, however, that once that happens, Etna will be more widely seen as the peer it really is to the prestige DOCGs.
How This Tasting Worked
Etna Days had a technical tasting, plus a walk-around tasting, plus two days of producer visits. I also coordinated an extension to travel on my own and visit four particular wineries for a book I am writing.
What I was looking for in these wines was a mixture of only-on-Etna characteristics: a general sense for the wine’s energy; persistence and longevity on the palate; and a clear demonstration of evolution or potential. Etna’s wines are at their best when they are shape-shifters, their various states of deliciousness a constant chain of evolution from cork-pull to empty bottle.
Of the roughly 155 Etna DOC wines I tasted, 26 stood out above the rest, which I will be featuring in this three-part report, beginning with the top 10 Etna Bianco wines. Several producers will be listed multiple times: take it from me, they are the cream of the crop.
The Latest on Etna Bianco
I am ready to say it with confidence: the white wines of Etna are the most important from the DOC. Complex, mysterious, refreshing, and — most importantly — consistent, Etna Bianco is fully hitting its stride. If you haven’t read my recent report on aged Etna Bianco, be sure to check it out. This time around, I had several more examples of aged Carricante that thrilled me beyond words. I’ve not included those here, since it’s a Tasting Report focused on new releases.
As a reminder, Etna Bianco must be 60% Carricante with the rest being 40% non-aromatic native grapes, with Cataratto and Minella showing up most often. With the DOC aiming for DOCG designation in the near future, expect this percentage to tighten up in favor of a higher minimum of Carricante.
Many Etna Bianco wines are field blends of ancient, co-planted vineyards, and most have a lot more Carricante than the bare minimum (newer plantings are usually 100% Carricante). Etna Bianco Superiore can only come from the eastern side of the volcano — in the contrada surrounding Milo — where the cloudy conditions and proximity to the sea yield the best versions. Furthermore, Etna Bianco Superiore has to be a minimum of 80% Carricante.
Because the styles are so dramatically different from Milo versus white wines from the other slopes, I am flagging two top wines: one that is Etna Bianco Superiore, and one that is Etna Bianco.
Navigate Etna Bianco Selections
- 2022 Benanti Contrada Rinazzo Etna Bianco Superiore
- 2021 Barone di Villagrande Contrada Villagrande Etna Bianco Superiore
- 2022 Ciro Biondi “Pianta” Etna Bianco
- 2020 Cottanera Contrada Calderara Etna Bianco
- 2021 Federico Curtaz ”Kudos” Etna Bianco Superiore
- 2023 Girolamo Russo “San Lorenzo” Etna Bianco
- 2020 I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna “Imbris” Etna Bianco Superiore
- 2022 Monteleone “Arthemis” Etna Bianco
- 2022 Tenuta di Fessina “Il Musmeci” Etna Bianco Superiore
- 2022 Terra Costantino Contrada Praino Etna Bianco Superiore
The Top Etna Bianco Wines
2021 Federico Curtaz “Kudos” Etna Bianco Superiore
Federico Curtaz has quite the resume. Most famously, he was Angelo Gaja’s agronomist for 15 years, presiding over the establishment of some of Barbaresco’s most famous wines in the 1980s. He consulted around the world but eventually set out for Mount Etna because of another passion — olive oil. Yet he naturally fell for its wild vineyards as well, helping to establish Tenuta di Fessina. Now on his own and purchasing grapes from vineyards in Noto (Nero d’Avola), Milo (Carricante) and Biancavilla and Feudo di Mezzo (Nerello Mascalese), he is offering some of the most pure, minimally handled yet technically correct wines on the mountain.
The 2021 Etna Bianco Superiore (★★★★★) stunned me with its aromas — a dead-ringer for salty sea air, light apples and mixed herbs. The overall sensation was of freshness and excitement, like the most thrilling invitation you could ever pull out of an envelope. Once on the palate, it showed a unique tone of citrus and suggests a place of origin that is unique to the wine world. This is what Etna Bianco does best: it lends your palate a sense of terroir that could only be here. Only 2,500 bottles produced annually.
2021 Ciro Biondi “Pianta” Etna Bianco
While the Milo expression of Etna Bianco reigns supreme for wine lovers, it is worth noting that the southern slope has its own unique spin on the wine that is worth celebrating just as much. Think of it as the divide between Chablis (Milo) and the Mâconnais (south, southeastern slopes) in that you feel the sun’s influence on the wine a lot more with the latter. Keeping these wine’s honest is Mount Etna’s volcanic-influence acidity, and showing true mastery of this style is Ciro Biondi.
His Chianta vineyard is one of the most stunning habitats for white wine grapes in Italy. Nestled in an extinct sub-caldera close to the village of Trecastagni, Chianta has an ashy topsoil, a diversity of plants, and a dramatic pitch on the western lip whose vines can only be accessed by a steep staircase through its heart (see photo in collage). From this vineyard, Biondi makes the single vineyard Etna Bianco called “Pianta” (★★★★★) which has a tweaked name to avoid confusion with Chianti. With an inviting nose evocative of golden pears and fresh mint, this Etna Bianco has an intensity you’d never find in Milo’s mysterious elegance, and that’s exactly the point. On the south slope, the wines are forward. But Biondi’s work goes beyond, with exceptional purity, graciousness and a wild character that wants to let loose. That said, it starts off very dialed in on the palate, before expanding with suggestions of pear and lemon-orange citrus, while loads of mineral rockiness lead to a fresh finish. (I must admit: my earlier Burgundian comparison falls apart a bit, because I’ve never had anything this thrilling from the Mâconnais).
If you can’t find “Pianta,” Biondi’s “Outis” Etna Bianco (★★★★★) is a willing stand-in for the style. Supple and generous with its fruit and acidity, it has just enough of a tease to make you want to explore the Etna Bianco category a bit more. Both wines see a decent percent of the field blend coming from Minella, Catarratto, Moscatello dell’Etna and Malvasia.
Other Excellent Etna Bianco Wines
2022 Benanti Contrada Rinazzo Etna Bianco Superiore
Benanti’s “Pietra Marina” Etna Bianco Superiore is among the most celebrated white wines in Italy, but its big brother is this splendid, always thrilling and more affordable Etna Bianco Superiore — Contrada Rinazzo (★★★★★). These wines come from the same vineyard in Milo — a dazzling volcanic bench where you feel like you can touch the sea, the sky and the summit all at once. “Pietra Marina” is a more careful selection of choice fruit with longer time on the lees (30 months versus 12) and aging in the cellar before release.
This was my third tasting of Contrada Rinazzo, and I love its furtive personality. This is a wine that plays hide and seek at first, and it is absolutely essential to let it breathe for 20 to 30 minutes after the cork is pulled to let its character emerge. What arrives is dazzling: it’s like lemon peel, mint and salty air on the nose, but it is so whispery and light that you feel like you’re waltzing with a ghost. Give it even more time, and what emerges is one of the finest white wines in Italy: generous but restrained, graceful and elegant, offering golden pear flavors and herbal tea sensations on a silky profile. This is certainly one for the cellar.
2022 Monteleone “Arthemis” Etna Bianco
Giulia Monteleone and her husband, Alessandro Benedetto, are among the most promising “newcomers” on Mount Etna. I put that word in quotes because Benedetto has extensive experience consulting at Tenuta di Fessina, and they established their winery in 2017. Still, when you are talking about the long arc of wine, six vintages is still “in infancy.” But you wouldn’t know it tasting their wines, especially their signature, the elegant, salty-yet-creamy “Arthemis” Etna Bianco (★★★★★).
There are five wines at the estate, and along with the Etna Rosso “Rumex,” “Arthemis” has a substantially different label (black, large flowers enveloping the scene vs. their estate wine’s white labels and tidy art). Both wines come from contract vineyards beyond their Castiglione in Sicilia estate, which were established during their second vintage, 2018, which was difficult. This quick thinking enabled them to produce a product when things were at their most tenuous, and now, these wines are among the most exciting on Etna.
“Arthemis” comes from a vineyard in Sant’Alfio, which is still on the eastern slope where Carricante thrives most, only a little lower in elevation. Offering pure yellow pear fruit underneath a clear, concise aroma of wild fennel, this feels like a wine that comes from here (wild fennel grows everywhere around Etna, and tinges the air even when conditions are dry). Elegant with just a hint of salty persistence to keep it moving, “Arthemis” is very well balanced and refined.
2020 I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna “Imbris” Etna Bianco Superiore
It is interesting to think where Mount Etna would be without Salvo Foti. The brilliant, local enologist who helped the Benanti family become what they are (and as a result, helped Etna become what it is), Foti’s work has kept his feet on the ground through dozens of consulting projects and his two closest, most personal endeavors — I Vigneri, which he owns, and I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna, where he has been the long-time winemaker.
I’ve yet to meet Foti, but I’ve met his partner at I Custodi — Mario Paoluzzi — on numerous occasions, and this time was afforded a wonderful tour of their ancient vineyards, which I’ll profile another time.
The 2020 “Imbris” Etna Bianco Superiore (★★★★★) is the most towering and emphatic Etna Bianco. Made from ungrafted but fairly young vines with an average age of 10 years, Imbris draws its power from Foti’s decision to allow 30 months of aging on the lees. The resulting wine is almost honeyed in its richness, with gingery edges and a deep apple-like character that at times reminds me of aged Alsatian Pinot Gris. But that headiness is kept in check admirably by the volcano’s stony signature of minerality. It is a staggering, versatile wine that begs to be aged for a few years.
Meanwhile, the 2021 “Ante” Etna Bianco (★★★★★) also scored very well with me. The sensations of this Etna Bianco feel broader on the nose and on the palate, but it really pulls you in with its floral aromatics. It is generous but in a light and delicate way … quite the contrast from “Imbris.”
2022 Tenuta di Fessina “Il Musmeci” Etna Bianco Superiore
From the same contrada (Contrada Caselle) as I Custodi’s “Imbris” and from the same enologist as Monteleone (Alessandro Benedetto) comes this always-elegant, always-dazzling Etna Bianco Superiore called 2022 “Il Musmeci” (★★★★★) from Tenuta di Fessina. More broadly floral on the nose than many other Etna Bianco, it still manages quite a bit of mystery. There is softness, lightness and a fruity freshness that resembles a crisp watermelon. Supple and caressing, graceful and elegant, it goes and goes with amazing persistence. Sapid, mineral, radiant and delicious, the 2022 “A Puddara” Etna Bianco (★★★★ 3/4) scored well with me as well.
2020 Cottanera Contrada Calderara Etna Bianco
Francesco Cambria shares the same name as his grandfather, who started Cottanera in the 1960s as a polyculture farm of grapevines and hazelnuts. For senior, the endeavor was a return to the countryside that raised him after a career working in Messina. They sold the grapes to the local cooperative through the 1980s, and eventually uprooted the hazelnut trees in favor of vines. In many ways, Cambria preceded the wave of popularity that was to come on Etna, and when it came, the family was well positioned to take advantage.
The estate is impeccably done: one of those north-slope Etna wineries that feels modern on the inside, yet respective of its roots and the surroundings on the exterior. The wines are also finely calibrated with nice “typicity” of the volcano, none more so than the sterling 2020 Contrada Calderara Etna Bianco (★★★★★). I prefer the Etna Bianco wines that lie in wait, subdued and refined at first, waiting for their moment to spring forth with their evolution of fruit, flowers, herbs and salt. Cottanera’s Contrada Calderara Etna Bianco does this perfectly well, with a lean and playful palate expression that only gets better and better with each glass. A hint of savoriness as well as a streak of wild fennel flavor, intertwined beautifully in that swath of acidity, lends an extra level of interest for me.
2023 Barone di Villagrande Contrada Villagrande Etna Bianco Superiore
I was keen to revisit the white wines of Barone di Villagrande this time, and as luck would have it, the consorzio included the historic estate on my small group’s itinerary. What I didn’t expect was for their red wines to steal the show (more on that in the next report).
Nonetheless, the Nicolosi family’s 2023 Etna Bianco Superiore (★★★★ 3/4) remains an excellent wine and one I’ll always taste on Etna because of its benchmark status. It is a wine with volcanic aromas, both in how mineral the tones are, but also in how its personality erupts from the glass. This estate always does a nice job of balancing the inherent and at times aggressive acidity of Carricante with thoughtful winemaking craft in the cellar. For instance, in an unusual but pleasing twist, 60% of the wine spends nine months in Sicilian acacia wood barrels while the remaining 40% ages in French oak barriques. This seems to give the wine a softer texture without sacrificing its movement across the palate, nor imparting any smothering flavors. If you prefer a more subdued and elegant style of wine, Barone di Villagrande is in your wheelhouse.
2022 Terra Costantino Contrada Praino Etna Bianco Superiore
Terra Costantino lies on the southeastern edge of the Etna DOC boundaries, with Fabio Costantino at the helm. A point of pride for him is that the estate was the first winery on Mount Etna to earn organic certification in 2000. Since then, they continue to push the boundaries and lead the way on sustainability issues, like lightweight glass bottles and — crucial in drought-stricken Sicily — water reuse. Each year, they manage to recycle 1.4 million liters of water just from washing the cellar and rainwater capture.
And their wines are exceptionally well crafted too. One of the newest entries, as of the 2020 vintage, is the beautiful Contrada Praino Etna Bianco Superiore, whose 2022 vintage I tasted (★★★★ 3/4). It leads with classic Carricante aromas of green pear and fresh mint, but also has suggestions of white tea that I found very inviting. It is also quintessentially an Etna Bianco Superiore — the volcanic energy of Milo is simply different than the rest of the mountain’s slope, conveying a graceful yet quenching energy. Like all Milo wines, give this wine 20 minutes of aeration to allow it to find its ideal form.
2023 Girolamo Russo San Lorenzo Etna Bianco
Giuseppe Russo is one of Etna’s most celebrated winemakers, bringing about a series of truth-telling, terroir-centric Contrada-based red wines each vintage under his father’s name, Girolamo Russo. Yet lesser know is his work with Carricante, particularly the San Lorenzo bottling of Etna Bianco. It comes from a strip of white grapes planted in 1940 within the heart of the Nerello Mascalese vineyard that populates the San Lorenzo Etna Rosso.
I tasted the 2023 vintage (★★★★ 3/4), and its wonderful perfume seems to hold several mysteries within it, straddling the fence between floral and herbal while remaining firmly stony. Best of all, it fulfills the promise of its aromas nicely on the palate with sleek acidity and a graceful disposition. Only 1,200 bottles are made of this wine.
About the Ratings
★★★★★ – The Top Tier
★★★★ 3/4 – A Thrilling Wine
★★★★ 1/2 – Solid and Recommended
★★★★ 1/4 – Average
★★★★ – Indistinctive
< ★★★★ – No Point in Writing About It
Learn more about the philosophy behind these ratings.
Note: My travel and accommodations were paid for by the Consorzio di Tutela dei Vini Etna, although I extended my stay for three days and funded a rental car as well as certain meals and accommodations. Learn more about my editorial and travel policies.
CAPTIONS: All photos ©Kevin Day/Opening a Bottle. May not be reused in any way without compensation. Featured image: Carricante fruit in Benanti’s Contrada Rinazzo. Top: Etna Bianco wines at the technical tasting; Barone di Villagrande’s Contrada Villagrande vineyard; the staircase into Ciro Biondi’s vines inside the Chianta vineyard; a vineyard at Terra Costantino; Carricante harvest at Monteleone with Mount Etna’s summit obscured by clouds in the distance; Federico Curtaz’s best-in-class Etna Bianco Superiore aptly called “Kudos;” Carricante grapes nearing optimal ripeness.
