GALLERY
Etna territory
Etna, today, is universally recognized as the Sicilian wine-growing area of excellence. A lava habitat that expands at high altitudes characterized by an extraordinary mineral richness and biodiversity. In this context, there have been vineyards arranged in terraces, interspersed with lava flows since ancient times, creating a unique and unrepeatable terroir which favors particular longevity for the vineyard. There are rare exceptions which include over one hundred year old ungrafted vines which have also survived the advent of phylloxera.
GALLERY
Districts
The company’s vineyards are spread over 12 Contrade, with very different soil and climate characteristics that allow it to support a varied and always excellent production.
The microbiological and microchemical nature of lava flows differs greatly in its concentration of elements, not only in correspondence with a specific time band during which the magmatic activity took place, but also functionally in a specific area of the volcano affected by the eruptive phenomena.
GALLERY
Grapes and Vineyards
The wine-growing history of the Etna Volcano is lost in the mists of time. The discovery of wild vines (ampelidae) testifies to the millenary presence of the species on Etna already in the Tertiary period and The poet Theocritus, in the 3rd century BC, speaks of a great diffusion of the vine starting from the 8th century BC. In the History of Italian wines by Andrea Bacci in 1596, the wines produced on the hills surrounding Catania are mentioned, the goodness of which is attributed to the ashes of the volcano.
GALLERY
Pre-phylloxera vineyard
At the same time, Firriato continues the historical continuity of the pre-phylloxera specimens, for which a parcel of approximately 2.5 ha in extension has also been identified within the estate. Particularly old plants, with a certified age of 140-150 years, ungrafted, of which the majority are Nerello Mascalese and other sporadic relic varieties. studied with the help of specific experimental fields owned by the company, other plants of interesting ampelographic character and of notable historical and scientific value include the unknown genotypes, coming from this extraordinary Terroir.
GALLERY
Experimental Vineyard
On beautiful spring days, when the sky is clear and the clouds dance on the top of Etna, the Firriato vineyards reveal themselves in all their beauty: the ultra-centenarian specimens, authentic sculptures of nature, which testify to an already widespread cultivation of the vine before the phylloxera plague, they alternate with the terraces surrounding the ancient millstone.
GALLERY
HARVEST
Each variety has its own harvest period. Over time, Firriato has built a wealth of precious information, monitoring and tracing what the climatic context and its influence on the vineyard were, harvest by harvest. This is useful for defining a forecast framework that is increasingly closer to the actual reality of ripening and, therefore, harvesting times. A detection system that the company uses for each of its agricultural estates, vineyards or portions in which very specific peculiarities and behaviors are recorded. The Etna vineyards are the last to be harvested and the harvest of the bunches, which is concentrated between the first and second ten days of October, and then concludes in early November.
GALLERY
Cellar and Vinification
The Cavanera Etnea winery is immersed in the heart of the Etna Nature Reserve, along the northern slope of the most active and fascinating volcano in Europe. A structure completely in harmony with the landscape which, from the harvest to the manual selection of the grapes up to the winemaking, the Cavanera Etnea winery with its eco-sustainable technologies allows you to fully enhance the characteristics of the volcano’s terroir, in full respect of the habitat natural surroundings. The eco-compatible structure of the Cavanera Etnea winery was set inside a lava flow that entered the volcanic soil tens of meters deep.
GALLERY
Hospitality
The Cavanera Etnea Resort is immersed in the natural reserve of the Etna Park, in the north-east area of the volcano, it is an extraordinary structure on the slopes of Etna located about 600 meters above sea level. Set among the vineyards of Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Carricante and Catarratto, it enjoys a favorable position between the historic municipalities of Castiglione di Sicilia and Randazzo. The estate is also surrounded by ancient vineyards, some even over a century old, with younger portions due to the replantings that the company has carried out over time.
GALLERY
Cavanera Etnea
Starting in 1978 from the Trapani countryside, Firriato expanded in search of those viticultural contexts – very characteristic – where he could express precision viticulture, dedicated to enhancing the traditional Sicilian vines.
