2017 Terrazze dell’Etna Cinniri Etna Bianco Sicily

Terrazze dell’Etna’s Cinniri is a breathtaking example of the crispness and elegance of what white wine can achieve on Sicily’s Mt. Etna. Crafted from 100% Carricante, an indigenous grape, this bottle captures the essence of this beautiful, unforgiving volcanic landscape.

Terrazze dell’Etna is a modern, technologically advanced winery founded in 2008 by engineer Nino Bevilacqua. Legendary Italian winemaker Riccardo Cotarella helped him to plan and build this unique and enviable property. 

Because this area of Etna was originally composed of many small farmsteads, the vineyards are scattered in an archipelago of unconnected plots. The estate grows all of its own grapes at altitudes that range from 600–950 meters.

Carricante is the greatest Italian white wine grape you’ve probably never heard of, and it reaches its apogee on Mt. Etna. According to Italian wine authority Ian D’Agata, it is “potentially one of Italy’s greatest cultivars, white or red; when properly tended to, it yields wines of great longevity and very intense mineral character.” 

Carricante is a vigorous grape whose name comes from the Italian word for “load” or “burden,” a reference to the vines’ high yields that would load up the donkey carts headed for the winery. But here on Bevilacqua’s terraces, carved from old lava flows—and often overrun by fresh ones—the vines must fight for water and nutrients, resulting in low yields of intensely flavored grapes. 

“Cinniri” is Sicilian dialect for “ashes,” and the wine delivers exactly the character you’d expect from vineyards grown on the slopes of a live volcano. There’s an intense minerality that seems to transmit centuries of weathered lava. You’re simply not going to find a more noble, concentrated, fruit-driven Sicilian white. 

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Sweetness
• Acidity

• ABV 13.50%
• Enjoy right away
• Drink Up
• % Carricante
• Serving temperature – 48°
• Cork