Winemaker Notes
Alta Mora Etna Bianco has a pleasant aroma, fresh, smooth taste and is unobtrusively flowery.
Drink as an aperitif, fish, or light appetizers.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has aromas of grilled pineapple, papaya and chamomile with some distinct smoky and ashy undertones. Medium-bodied with bright acidity. Flavorful, with fantastic flinty and smoky character.
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Wine & Spirits
Hints of sea salt and savory herbs weave through this wine, lending depth and complexity to the flavors of crisp green apple and crystalized lemon. It balances lively citrus tones with Etna’s signature smoke and salinity, remaining fresh and firm through the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Etna Bianco is fresh and nicely balanced with white peach and grapefruit that are contrasted against crushed mineral and volcanic ash. This crisp white wine proves highly drinkable and enjoyable thanks to that almost salty back end that would pair with fried shrimp or Thai spring rolls. It ages on the fine lees for six month. Fruit is sourced from across three contrade: Arrigo (in Linguaglossa), Verzella and Pietramarina.
Carricante has grown on the slopes of Sicily’s Mt. Etna for the last thousand years. It is the dominant grape in Etna Bianco DOC blends, with Catarratto as a possible minor blending partner. The best examples come from volcanic soils at higher altitudes where a large diurnal temperature shift allows slow and steady ripening and the development of Carricante’s naturally high acidity. Somm Secret—A vine variety capable of high yields if not tended to properly, Carricante gets its name from, carica, the Italian word for “load.”
A large, geographically and climatically diverse island, just off the toe of Italy, Sicily has long been recognized for its fortified Marsala wines. But it is also a wonderful source of diverse, high quality red and white wines. Steadily increasing in popularity over the past few decades, Italy’s fourth largest wine-producing region is finally receiving the accolades it deserves and shining in today's global market.
Though most think of the climate here as simply hot and dry, variations on this sun-drenched island range from cool Mediterranean along the coastlines to more extreme in its inland zones. Of particular note are the various microclimates of Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, where vineyards grow on drastically steep hillsides and varying aspects to the Ionian Sea. The more noteworthy red and white Sicilian wines that come from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna include Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (reds) and Carricante (whites). All share a racy streak of minerality and, at their best, bear resemblance to their respective red and white Burgundies.
Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted red variety, and is great either as single varietal bottling or in blends with other indigenous varieties or even with international ones. For example, Nero d'Avola is blended with the lighter and floral, Frappato grape, to create the elegant, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, one of the more traditional and respected Sicilian wines of the island.
Grillo and Inzolia, the grapes of Marsala, are also used to produce aromatic, crisp dry Sicilian white. Pantelleria, a subtropical island belonging to the province of Sicily, specializes in Moscato di Pantelleria, made from the variety locally known as Zibibbo.