Vigneti Vecchio 'Donna Bianca' 2021 Rosso Terre Sicilane

750ml bottle
13.5% abv

Elegant floral aromatics, lifted notes of blood orange and incense, silky structure, and tart volcanic freshness.

Nerello Mascalese (50%), Nerello Cappuccio (20%), Alicante (20%), co-planted indigenous white varieties (10%). Contrada Donna Bianca, Randazzo, northern Etna. 1.5 hectares, planted 1950, primarily own-rooted, volcanic soils, 820 meters elevation. Micro-vinification in the cellar beneath the family home, aged in used barrels, unfined, unfiltered.

Carmelo Vecchio and his wife Rosa La Guzza were raised among the vineyards of Etna’s northern slopes, in the commune of Randazzo. Carmelo spent roughly fifteen years working at the nearby Passopisciaro winery before starting his own project with a single hectare of vines inherited from Rosa’s family, some of them over 130 years old and ungrafted, growing in volcanic soil at 820 meters elevation. The domaine now covers several small parcels on Etna, all organically farmed by hand. Wines are made in a small cellar beneath the family home: micro-vinifications in used barrels, no fining, no filtration.

The Donna Bianca Rosso comes from the contrada that takes its name from the snowcapped summit of Mt. Etna, looming above. The 1.5-hectare parcel, planted in 1950 on black volcanic soil, yields Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante, and a small portion of co-planted indigenous white varieties which all contribute to this remarkable blend. High-elevation old-vine Nerello from Etna’s northern slope at its finest.