Quincunx - Mt. Etna

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Mt. Etna

The terrain is volcanic, terraced. The dry-stone walls are patched with an eternally green moss. The vines feel the effects of the extreme climatic and soil conditions. The weather can change quickly and unexpectedly (Etna is the north come south!) and winter temperatures are quite severe.

Vine cultivation on Mt. Etna is primordial. The area has not been developed for tourism and this has allowed the territory to remain unspoilt, without detrimental human intervention. The vines are trained in the alberello (bush) system, 8-9,000 vines per hectare, and can only be cultivated by hand, or with the help of mules. Temperatures are harsh in winter, hot in summer, and can fluctuate considerably between day and night (by as much as 30 °C). A diversity of grape varieties is to be found in the vineyards. The particular characteristics of the sandy, volcanic terrain come from the underlying rock formed from the breaking up of the lava, which is of ancient origin. The terrain changes continually, deep and fertile in places, elsewhere very thin, exposing the volcanic rock.

The vines struggle with their environment for survival. The rains may arrive unexpectedly at any time, but even when heavy, they are not retained by the particular volcanic terrain. During the summer we work hard to maintain as much as possible of what little humidity the sandy soil retains, yet the soil becomes a fine dust which makes the air unbreathable and which insinuates itself right into the deepest creases of the skin. The vines sink their roots deep into a terrain formed from the many lava flows which have followed upon each other over the millennia and which is by no means homogeneous. Both macro- and micro-elements are therefore highly variable.

Every vine seems to have its own particular characteristics, depending on where and how it sinks its roots into the ground, whether it meets fertile land or bare lava rock. The vines often suffer from this lack of consistency in soil and climate and from the frequent climatic excesses. This suffering, however, stimulates the plants, and gives them a great and obstinate will to survive, and induces them to bear few but rich fruit. Never too sweet or too concentrated, the grapes are very well balanced with a good acidity. A few treatments with sulphur and Bordeaux mixture are enough to keep them healthy.