Tasting Notes: The Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore Contrada Rinazzo is a straw yellow with bright green reflections. The nose is delicate but intense, rich and generous, with mild fruity notes of orange blossom and ripe apple. The palate is dry, mineral, and harmoniously balanced with a pleasant acidity and an aromatic persistence with hints of anise and almond. From the prized Rinazzo vineyard on the eastern slope of Mt.Etna, known for its high altitude, ventilation and exposure to the sea air.
Estate History: Salvino and Antonio Benanti has doubled down on the indigenous grapes and old vines of Etna, re-focusing a company that had grown a little unwieldy with vineyard holdings elsewhere in Sicily. The family property is still centered around an ancient stone winery structure on the eastern slopes of the volcano, in the village of Viagrande. Although they’ve since planted newer vineyards, much of Benanti’s Carricante vines are old, gnarled alberelli (“little trees,” or bush-trained vines) at elevations reaching to 1,000 meters and higher. The soils, of course, are black volcanic ash strewn with pumice stones, with vine age ranging from 35-50 years. As is the case with so many indigenous Italian grape varieties, Carricante is not found anywhere else but Etna—and unlike most southern Italian whites, many of which are harvested in August, Carricante is a late-ripening variety that doesn’t typically reach peak maturity until mid-October.
