Terre Nere Etna Bianco Superiore Salice 2024
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The Land
Etna Bianco Superiore is one of the narrowest appellations in Italy: to carry the designation, the fruit must come from the township of Milo on the eastern face of the volcano and nowhere else. Milo sits directly in the path of moisture coming off the Ionian Sea, which makes it the wettest, coolest, and greenest side of Etna, and it is the only zone the DOC recognizes as capable of white wine at that level. Contrada Salice is a 1.2-hectare parcel there, running from 600 to 750 meters. The soil is volcanic ash and lava sand: shallow, poor, and free-draining, so the vines work for everything. Altitude, maritime moisture, and black sand is an unusual combination anywhere, and specific to this face of the mountain.
The Wine
100% Carricante, a variety that grows almost nowhere but Etna and produces almost nothing of interest when planted low or warm. Harvest here runs in the first ten days of October, late even by Etna standards, and the wine is aged nine months in stainless steel with no oak at any stage. That is deliberate: Carricante's whole argument is acidity and mineral tension, and wood covers both. The wine is green apple, lemon peel, white flowers, anise, and a smoky, ashy minerality that is unmistakably volcanic, with acidity that stays sharp for years and a long, dry, saline finish. Carricante is one of the few Italian whites that genuinely improves with a decade in bottle, and this is the version built for it.
The People
Marc de Grazia spent decades as one of the most influential importers of Italian wine before buying land on Etna's northern slope in 2002 and founding Tenuta delle Terre Nere. He arrived with a Burgundian framework and applied it directly: bottle by contrada, treat the volcano's named districts as crus, and let the differences between them show. That approach is standard practice on Etna now and was not when he started. The estate works old vines on the north face for its reds and reaches across the mountain to Milo for the whites, because that is where Carricante belongs.
Food Pairing
Cut for the sea and for anything fried. Grilled swordfish or sardines, fritto misto, spaghetti alle vongole, or a plate of raw oysters. The acidity is sharp enough to handle fried food without a squeeze of lemon, and the ashy mineral edge meets shellfish where it lives. Serve it cold now, or lay a bottle down for five years and open that one cool.
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Sicily, Italy’s largest island, blends ancient wine traditions with a fresh wave of modern creativity. Its star red grape, Nero d’Avola, thrives in the island’s warm, sun-soaked climate, producing intensely flavored wines with dark fruit and a hint of savory spice. Along the western coast lies the historic heartland of Marsala, a fortified wine prized for both sweet and dry styles. Rising above the island’s varied landscapes is Mount Etna, an active volcano whose mineral-rich soils and cooler elevations result in elegantly structured reds and nuanced whites. From coast to crater, Sicily’s wine culture is as diverse and vibrant as the region itself.
Italy - Sicily
Native to Sicily's Mount Etna, Carricante is a high acid white grape known for minerality. It's at its best on the east slope of the volcano, showing saltiness and texture with ample acidity to age for decades.
