Mount Etna (for the locals, “A Muntagna”, ), at 3,357 meters (11,000 feet), is the highest active volcano in Europe. It dominates Sicily and the city of Catania (from the Greek “Kata Aitna”, , at the foot of Etna); its slopes sink into the sea of Acitrezza. Perennially active, it gives two or three lava flows each year, dyeing the sky red and the streets black.
In winter the volcano is filled with snow, and the high white peaks, often shrouded in clouds, are visible from great distances. Despite the altitude, the climate is mediterranean and free of severe temperature fluctuations.
In the ancient disused craters characterized by deep depressions, mankind has, over the centuries, given rise to heroic viticulture. The lava flows, now cooled, lap the vineyards, which are clambering over the heights thanks to terraces, called “custeri” in Sicilian, built by man from dry, lava stone after lava stone.
Viticulture on Etna is an act of courage and a gesture of love. The Volcano itself reciprocates this sentiment by offering a wine that is strongly territorial, as well as distinctive.
Every year “A Muntagna” emits more than 500,000 tons of ash and pyroclastic products. A constant rain of black sands, a natural fertilizer, which enriches the soils and makes its wines unmistakable, but at the same time endangers every crop. It is the expression, daily, of the strength and violence of the Volcano, instilling respect in its inhabitants, and reminding us of its constant presence.
The climate, sands and soils formed over millennia by the crumbling of lava draw a unique territory, with each area - called “contrada” - capable of expressing wines with different characteristics.