Sicily’s Mount Etna is one of the hottest and fastest-growing wine regions in all of Italy. Its vineyards sweet across the mid-slopes of Europe’s most active volcano and are divided into 142 subzones called contrade. Although Etna’s modern era began in the 1980s, its winemaking history goes back thousands of years to the earliest Greek colonists.
This deep-rooted heritage, combined with significant investment from Sicilian producers as well as vintners from mainland Italy, Europe and America, has fueled a remarkable revival on the mountain. The Faro family were early leaders of this viticultural renaissance on the volcano, establishing Pietradolce on Etna’s northern slope in 2005.
Seventy years ago, Michele Faro’s grandfather farmed a few acres of vines on Etna’s southern slope, making wines for his family and friends. Though the family sold the vineyard, Faro’s parents, Venerando and Carmela, started a horticultural business in Catania that has become one of Sicily’s largest, raising and exporting Mediterranean plants to all parts of the world. Michele earned a degree in agronomy and worked for the family business, but in 2005 he decided to follow his passion for wine and began looking for vineyards on the northern slope of Mt. Etna, around the village of Solicchiata.
Etna’s slopes were covered with albarello-trained vines that date back to an era when production was booming on the volcano. Until the early 20th century, Etna remained a major center of wine production, but with the advent of world wars and economic downturns, many of these ancient vineyards were abandoned and their stone terraces left to crumble. When Michele began his vineyard search in 2005, it was relatively easy to find excellent pre-phylloxera vineyards. “People still did not fully understand the value of those vineyards and of our terroir,” he recalls.
That has changed dramatically over the last two decades as the quality and popularity of Etna wines, along with vineyard prices, have soared. Pietradolce now owns 84 acres of vines, and all of the fruit for their single-contrada wines comes from pre-phylloxera, bush-trained vines, some up to 120 years of age. Such ancient vines are naturally low-yielding, limiting Pietradolce’s production to around 90,000 bottles a year—which is just what Faro prefers. “Pietradolce is a boutique winery, and I want to keep it like this.”
Pietradolce grows only native Etna varieties like Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio and Carricante. This focus, along with the estate’s wealth of old, high-altitude vines have led to a set of wines that consistently express Etna’s unique volcanic terroir.
White Wines (all 100% Carricante)
- Etna Bianco – The estate’s “entry level” white, from grapes grown at 2300-2600 feet above sea level on Etna’s northern slope. Aged 4-6 months in stainless steel tanks.
- Etna Bianco ‘Archineri’ – A step up in intensity, this comes from pre-phylloxera vines grown at high elevations in the Milo area on the eastern slope. Aged in stainless steel tanks and then in bottle for one year.
- Sant’Andrea Bianco – This is from vines up to 150 years old grown at up to 2,788 feet above sea level near Milo on the eastern slope. The vinification is atypical, with a long maceration on the skins in 2,000-liter oak barrels followed by 2.5 years of aging in bottle before release.
Rosé Wines
- Etna Rosato – Pure Nerello Mascalese vinified in stainless steel makes for a fresh, lively, saline-infused rosé.
Red Wines (all 100% Nerello Mascalese)
- Etna Rosso – Aged three months in oak barrels. A delicious introduction to Etna Rosso.
- Etna Rosso ‘Archineri’ – As with the Archineri Bianco, Archineri Rosso amps up the intensity. From 90-year-old vines in Contrada Rampante at 2,788 feet, fermented in concrete tanks, aged 14 months in oak barrels.
Single Contrada Red Wines (all 100% Nerello Mascalese)
- Etna Rosso Feudo di Mezzo -- From pre-phylloxera vines at lower elevations of around 2,100 feet. Fermented in concrete tanks, aged 14 months in oak barrels. Typically Pietradolce’s most full-bodied and dark-fruited single contrada red.
- Etna Rosso Rampante – Rich and fruit-forward, with dense meaty tannins. Pre-phylloxera vines at 2,788 feet in Contrada Rampante.
- Etna Rosso Santo Spirito – Pietradolce’s most floral-scented, linear and ethereal red wine, from some of their highest vineyards at 2,950 feet in the wind-swept Contrada Santo Spirito.
- Etna Rosso Barbagalli – The most intense and powerful red in the lineup, from a small plot of Pietradolce’s oldest vines in Contrada Rampante at 2,950 feet. Aged in oak barrels for 20 months.
FOUNDED: 2005
OWNER & VITICULTURIST: Michele Faro
WINEMAKER: Giuseppe Parlavecchio with consulting enologist Carlo Ferrini
VINEYARDS: 84 acres owned
ANNUAL PRODUCTION: 90,000 to 100,000 bottles
ESTATE GROWN: 100%
FARMING PRACTICE: Organic
IMPORTER: Empson USA
