Alfio Cosentino & I Vigneri

LOCALITY: ITALY – Sicily – Etna
APPELLATION: Etna DOC-Bianco Superiore Caselle
GRAPE VARIETY: 85% Carricante and 15% other native white grapes
WINEMAKER: Salvo Foti
VINEYARD: Planted in the late 1800s, the vineyard is located in Milo, on the eastern slope of Mount Etna, at an elevation of 800 meters. It is planted at a density of 9,000 vines per hectare on volcanic, sandy soils rich in ripiddu—a mix of lapilli and volcanic pumice. The parcel has been owned by the Cosentino family for three generations, but it was only in 2007 that Alfio Cosentino began bottling the wine himself rather than selling it as bulk wine. In 2016, together with Salvo Foti, he bottled this wine for the first time under the “Vigna don Paolo” label.
VITICULTURE: Sustainable viticulture is practiced with traditional Etnean alberello (bush-trained) vines, supported by locally sourced chestnut poles from Mount Etna.
WINEMAKING: A small amount of sulfur is added before fermentation to protect the juice and select the yeasts. Whole-cluster direct pressing is followed by a 30-hour sedimentation period. Alcoholic fermentation then lasts about 15 to 20 days.
AGING: Aged for 12 months in stainless steel.
BOTTLING: The wine is lightly filtered, with only a small dose of sulfur added before bottling.