” Is Mount Etna Italy’s hottest wine region? “
March 19, 2023
It has been a while (few weeks) since the last time I visited a winery on Etna, and my joy knew no bounds when the long-awaited visit began with Ayunta wines because if you haven’t tried them, you are missing something special.
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Ayunta winery is located on the north side of Mount Etna at 700 m a.s.l. in Sicily, close to the small village of Randazzo. I would define it as ‘A one-man band winery’…
The man in charge is Filippo Mangione, who decides to take his own path of natural winemaking, choosing Etna as a new home after an impressive background in the wine industry, selling other people’s wine for many years. (But you can’t lie to yourself when the winemakers’ blood flows in your veins.)
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Starting with one small parcel of the vine in 2012,
to date, the winery hasn’t grown much. Owning just less than 5 hectares, which consist of small, low quantity and high-quality parcels, where the vines reach up to 150 years. Filippo focuses on the best quality and maturity of the grapes, carrying out several harvests on the same vine, without wasting even a bunch.
Hand harvests, low yields due to the age of vines, spontaneous fermentation, no use of chemicals, and low intervention in the winemaking processes to convey the potential of the grapes and territory.
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Cultivated varieties are Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Carricante, Cataratto, and other less-known varieties as Minnella Bianca and Minnella Nera. Filippo’s wines are all about elegance, balance and freshness, pure varietal, vineyard, and vintage expression. Real children of volcanic soils.
Tasted Wines
Nerello Mascalese Bianco 2020 – direct press to make a white, so essentially a Blanc de Noir. Minerality dominates exalting its territory. It’s intense on the nose with touches of citrus fruits and green apple, alongside a distinct mineral sensation of graphite and flint. On the palate, it’s taut and vertical, fresh and savory. Very particular wine but at the same time versatile.
Piante Sparse Etna Bianco DOC 2019 – it’s mainly Carricante with an addition of smaller percentage of Catarratto, Minnella, Grecanico and Moscato. Aging in steel and then bottle.
Beautiful intensity both on the nose and palate with notes of yellow apple, white peach, yellow plum, orange blossom, broom flower, lemon zest, and flint. Bright acidity, medium alcohol, medium(+) body, long finish with citrus hints, and emitting sensations of minerality on the palate.
Nerello Mascalese Rosso 2020 – Traditional yet easy-going style of red wine. Maceration for 3 days. Aging in cement vats for about 6 months. On the nose marasca cherry, wildflowers, and a mineral note. The palate is fresh, sapid, smooth, subtle yet flavorful.
Navigabile Etna Rosso DOC 2019 – 90% Nerello Mascalese, 10% Nerello Cappuccio. Maceration for 18 days, aging in big used cherry wood and oak barrels for 14 months.
The scent of ripe fruit, aromatic herbs, dried flowers, sweet spices, and flint. On the palate, it’s dry, enveloping, tannic, and fresh, with a long, savory finish.
Calderara Sottana DOC 2016 – Nerello Mascalese in purity hand-worked old vines, single-vineyard wine. Maceration for about 20 days, refinement in used barriques for 20 months. Less than 2500 bottles were produced.
Shows off a bouquet of red cherry and plum sauce, notes of underbrush and ash followed by notes of wild herbs, black pepper, and graphite. On the palate it’s dry, full-bodied, and well structured, endowed with majesty, grit, and elegance.
Website: Ayunta
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