The hilltop town of Taormina overlooking Giardini Naxos bay, facing snow-capped Mount Etna.
Passengers gasp as Mount Etna comes into view. The world’s most active stratovolcano is puffing merrily as the plane circles near it before landing in Catania on Sicily’s east coast. It dominates the landscape, rising to about 3,350m, with a circumference at the base of about 150km, old lava flows scarring the mountainside in multiple places.
You sense the volcano everywhere you go – from the dialled-up flavours of the produce to the black dust on your shoes (a little tip: don’t wear white trainers) after a walk on its slopes. And you taste it in the wines, which display an impressive sense of place, fascinating all who taste them.
Making wine here certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted. The terroir changes constantly, with every belch of black ash, which happens continually. Consequently, there are now 142 contradas (comparable to the lieu-dit or cru in France), wrapped around the mountain in a horseshoe shape, each defined by elevation and climate, and by the individual lava flows that have swept across the soils.
Winemakers here are quick to highlight this unique terroir. They point out the cool nights and warm days, the intense sunlight and the old, higher-elevation vineyards, which are largely bush ‘alberello’ trained, with some even ungrafted and pre-phylloxera vines. Combine that with the largely native varieties grown here – with tough little Nerello Mascalese leading the lighter-style reds and Carricante making up the bulk of the intense,
