Winemaker Notes
Pietradolce Archineri Etna Bianco is a structured wine, with complex aromas of grapefruit and herbs; fresh and flavorful, long finish.
Blend: 100% Carricante.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Pietradolce 2022 Archineri warm rock, before deeper, juicier flavors of white peach and yellow apple emerge. Those notes all continue onto the palate, fortified by a blast of ferocious acid and a powerful current of salt.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Etna Bianco Archineri pours a bright straw silver color and reveals a bit more tropical notes as well as white pepper, fresh pineapples, and white grapefruit. Medium to full-bodied, it’s starting to flesh out and has a more rounded character, with hints of candle wax and raw Marcona almonds.
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Vinous
The 2022 Etna Bianco Archineri wafts up with a spicy blend of dusty dried flowers, shaved ginger and zest of lime. It’s round and supple, with a pretty inner sweetness and ripe orchard fruits offset by a core of tactile minerals. Brisk acidity adds a mouthwatering quality through the close as this finishes.
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Wine Spectator
A honeyed white backed by a steely spine of acidity, this is long and fragrant, with almond blossom and chamomile notes accenting flavors of poached pear and white strawberry fruit, blood orange peel and petrol, plus hints of white pepper and sage. Drink now through 2032. 450 cases made, 100 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.