Cantina Etnella, "Attia Bianco" 2020

Along the northern face of the fearsome Mt. Etna - Europe's largest active volcano located on the eastern end of Sicily - Davide Bentivegna has cultivated beautifully fresh rarities of high-elevation/volcanic galore for nearly 15 years. Having transitioned from a different vocation in Milan, one that involved corporate humdrum and the office grind, and without familial history of farming or winegrowing, Davide's viticultural education has been thanks to a lot of trial and error, good fortune, and an obsessive endeavoring. A combination of academic study of winemaking, an old neighbor on Etna who showed him some of the climatic peculiarities of growing grapes on the volcano and the vineyard tricks they necessitate, and thereafter the more global camaraderie of folks working in a specifically low-intervention/natural style (befriending the likes of Stefano Belloti, Aldo Viola, and Frank Cornelissen) has helped forge the particularly lovely aspect of the Etnella wines. Working with 13 different contrade (crus) across teh north/eastern slopes high up on Etna, Davide makes 17 cuvées - 13 that include various bits of different parcels and 4 parcellaire wines (his top wines). Grape varieties include mainly Nerello Mascalese and Carricante though there are not-insignificant plantings of Nerello Cappuccio, Grenache, Syrah, Chasselas, Trebbiano, and Moscato. Zero/zero high-elevation volcanic treasures that can only come from this one place. 

Sicily, Italy. A salty, floral blend of Carricante, Trebbiano, Chasselas and a touch of Moscato for aromatics. Macerated briefly on the skins and fermented with native yeasts in steel Unfined, unfiltered, no SO2.