Etna, from DOC to DOCG, Sicily’s diamond is growing in quality, perception and value

Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe, and its wines, whose absolute top stars are Nerello Mascalese and Carricante, is without a doubt the brightest diamond on the “wine continent”, Sicily, as we often have defined it. The volcanic soils, the influence of the sea and vineyards that climb up among slopes and “contrade” that wine producers have valorized, have generated unique and distinctive wines, (they are also the stars in “I Quaderni di WineNews”, dated August 2023), which have won the admiration of critics and the public. Etna is an ancient, complicated and fascinating territory, (which we also narrated in this video). But it is also dynamic, just like its volcano, where pioneering and historic wine companies, such as Cottanera, Passopisciaro di Franchetti, Graci or Girolamo Russo, Castello di Solicchiata, to name just a few, together with all the main names of Sicilian wine have joined together, for instance, Planeta, Donnafugata, Tasca d’Almerita, Cusumano, as well as Pietradolce of the Faro family. There have been significant investments from outside the Region, over the years, such as those of Angelo Gaja (who created Idda, in partnership with Graci), Oscar Farinetti (in collaboration with Tornatore) and Carlo Ferrini (collaborating with Alberelli di Giodo), as well as Piccini in collaboration with Torre Mora, plus the owner of Diesel, Renzo Rosso, who took over 40% of Benanti, and the recent Tommasi Family Estates in Linguaglossa investment, which purchased the Estate (and winery) of the Bambara-De Luca family (historical hoteliers in Taormina), just to mention a few examples among the many.
The movement has now set itself a new objective, meaning it is looking at an even better definition of Etna wines, at valorizing the vineyard heritage, at growth in positioning, and at the choice of moving from DOC (one of the oldest in Italy, since 1968) to DOCG. During the assembly of the Consortium for the Protection of Etna DOC wines held recently, members decided unanimously to begin the process of requesting DOCG recognition. “It is a long journey that will last at least two years”, Francesco Cambria, the president of the Consortium, explained to WineNews. Cambria is also at the helm of the Cottanera Winery, together with his sister Mariangela Cambria (now at the head of Assovini, that groups the best wineries in Sicily, ed.). The long-term objective is to give greater value to our land, and to raise the value perception of the denomination, and, of course bring it to the highest level, which is that of the Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin. One of the most important issues is the value of the land. “Obviously, there are many variables that influence the value of a vineyard, from exposure to altitude to the age of the vines”, Cambria pointed out to WineNews, “but, in any case, let's say that, on average, today the starting price per hectare is 160-170.000 euros per hectare and up. We would like this value to increase even more; I can't say how much, because an important factor is capitalization of the companies and the territory. We will also do this by renewing the request to block new plants, which is planned for four years and will expire in June 2024, and which we would like, instead, to maintain”.
It is, therefore, a “significant, and I would say historic, decision for the entire Etna area”, Cambria continued, “which the many members at the meeting unanimously agreed upon, within an atmosphere of total collaboration and participation. All of our denomination’s producers ardently desire to be definitely legitimized by reaching the highest step on the pyramid of the denomination certification system, due to the excellent work carried out so far and the prestige that the market has now acknowledged our wines”. “The Consortium must follow several practices closely and carefully”, Maurizio Lunetta, director of the Consortium explained. “First of all, we will present the request to the Sicilian Region, which will evaluate the documentation and the representation requirements of the denomination. Subsequently, once this phase is concluded, the National PDO and PGI Wine Committee, a body of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, will come into play. It is difficult to make predictions, but we think the whole process could take about two years”. Obviously, the transition from DOC to DOCG will also mean changes to the production specifications. For the “Spumante” typology, the Consortium explained, the possibility of using the Carricante variety will be added, in addition to Nerello Mascalese, and furthermore, it will be possible to produce the Pas Dosé version. The yield of the Etna Rosso typology that has the Additional Geographical Unit will be decreased, while the number of “Contrade” - currently 133, acknowledged starting from 2011 and legally equivalent to Additional Geographical Units (UGA) - will increase, upon the request of producers in the areas still not bound into Contrade. Finally, in the future DOCG regulations, it will be possible to indicate the name of one of the twenty municipalities as an Additional Geographical Unit (UGA), if the grapes come entirely from that territory. However, the overall boundaries of the Etna denomination will not change. In 2022, the registered hectares of vines totaled 1290.82, divided among 442 winemakers. Production, again in 2022, was 43.651.09 hectoliters for DOC Etna, equal to 5.8 million bottles.
“The changes that will be made to the new regulations will allow us to further increase the quality level of our wines, and to provide consumers with elements that make our production even more distinctive”, president Francesco Cambria concluded. “We are a healthy denomination, and very carefully defend the specificity of our viticulture, characterized by an excellent heritage of native vines, grown in a unique territory represented by the highest active volcano in Europe: Etna” .