Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Composed of 100% Carricante, the 2022 Etna Bianco Sul Vulcano was aged in equal parts concrete (lined) and barrels. It has lovely fresh notes of pineapples, white peach, citrus oils, and fresh flowers. It has an outstanding, waxy texture reminiscent of Marcona almonds, with a savory profile and medium to full-bodied richness. It exhibits a great deal of savory character, length, and aging potential. In comparison, the Isolano feels more approachable out of the gate and is more floral.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Showing fresh floral aromas and citrus fruit, the Donnafugata 2022 Etna Bianco Sul Vulcano remains a wine of brightness and luminosity. It offers pretty freshness and acidic focus with lemon and hints of passion fruit or grapefruit that give easy lift and buoyancy to the bouquet. Pretty saltiness also appears on the close, but the mouthfeel is easy and not especially long. What the wine gives up in complexity it offers in freshness and accessibility.
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Wine Spectator
This lovely, crowd-pleasing white is well-cut and harmonious, offering round and creamy accessibility on the palate. Creamed apple and peach fruit flavors are laced with hints of vanilla, hazelnut, oyster shell and lemon thyme that expand through the long, salty, mineral-driven finish. Carricante. Drink now through 2036. 4,400 cases made, 266 cases imported.
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.