Eric and Anna acquired a parcel in Contrada Pirao, high above the Quota Mille, within the National Park of Mt. Etna on the northern flank. Amidst chestnut, broom, wild apple, cherry, and walnut trees, several small terraces of 130–140-year-old ungrafted bush vines (pre-phylloxera) were still in place. After their initial vinification experiments in 2016 revealed the remarkable potential of this site, Eric and Anna referred to it as Eric’s “Garden of Eden.”

Since then, substantial efforts have gone into transforming the property. The team cleared blackberries and broom, repaired old terraces, and created massale selection cuttings from their best high-altitude vineyards. These cuttings were replanted on their own roots in the traditional high-density quincunx pattern. To preserve the site’s biodiversity, only a portion of the land has been planted with vines, while the rest remains a natural paradise. The estate’s beehives thrive here, producing two distinct and delicious honeys: millefiori and chestnut. The vineyard’s remote location posed challenges in the early years, with wandering cows, wild boar, and birds often feasting on the grapes, resulting in no wine production in 2017 and 2018. By 2019, improvements like solid fencing and careful pruning led to a modest harvest, producing an austere and ethereal wine. In 2021, the old vines remained untreated throughout the growing season. The harvest, conducted in early October, yielded just a few hundred kilos of grapes. These were fermented in a small mastellone with indigenous yeasts for about 10 days. After basket pressing, the wine underwent malolactic fermentation in 54-liter glass demijohns and remained on fine lees until bottling in June 2022, without any additions, clarification, or filtration.

A wine of intriguing balance and purity! Featuring dense, concentrated lactic fruit, while remaining light as a feather as it reveals elegant layers of distinctive crunchy minerality, salinity, and fine-grained, austere tannins.