Etnella
Sicily (Etna)
Etnella is a relatively young enterprise located on the slopes of Mount Etna. Founded by Davide Bentivegna, Etnella seeks to promote harmony with their environment. They respect the long-dating tradition of farming on Etna and adhere to the lunar phases to guide their work. They farm attentively and with very low use of copper and sulphur in the vineyards, performing the majority of their work manually. Grapes are fermented with natural yeasts and the final wines are neither fined nor filtered.
The districts they work are Presa, Linguaglossa, Randazzo and Passopisciaro, all located in the north-eastern side of the volcano. They work each district individually, each plot having a distinct lava layering, a mesoclimate and different exposure. The vineyards are planted on terraces supported by dry stone walls built with the local lava stone. The altitudes range from 600 to 1,000 meters above sea level.
The wines are pure, elegant and quintisentially Etna. Davide uses painfully extremely low yields, 2.5-3 tons/HA, biodynamic methods, amphoras, and chestnut to store and age his wines - traditionally chestnut is the Etnean oak and Davide favours it over any other wood vessel. These are under-the-radar wines not to be missed. Structure, elegance and energy!