The Peak of Purity and Tension: Etna 2025 Tasting Report

Think of Puligny-Montrachet – then imagine it reborn in volcanic soil, high above the sea in Italy, shaped by ash, altitude and wind.

That’s the singular character carricante can achieve on Mount Etna’s eastern face, particularly in the village of Milo. Here, the native white grape reaches rare levels of purity and tension: low in alcohol, piercingly mineral and laced with the kind of structure and finesse more often found in the limestone vineyards of Burgundy. This is not an echo, but a southern interpretation of elegance – etched in basalt and lifted by mountain air.

The setting is just as dramatic. Etna is Europe’s tallest and most active volcano, a living mountain that draws geologists from around the world. Its eastern slopes face the Ionian Sea, with vineyard terraces rising to 800 meters (2,624 feet), carved like natural amphitheaters by the Bove Valley and framed by the sharp light of the Mediterranean. Only here can Etna Bianco wines carry the coveted designation of “Superiore.”

It is in this improbable terrain that Carla Maugeri, a young Sicilian winemaker, has chosen to make her quiet revolution along with her sisters, Michela and Paola, and father, Renato. She produces only white wine – a bold break from Etna’s legacy of red grapes, historically grown for bulk wine and more recently transformed into refined, ageworthy expressions of nerello mascalese. Maugeri’s choice resists both market trends and family expectations. But at its heart lies a conviction: that carricante, in Milo, can speak more clearly than anything else the volcano has to offer.

Last year, during my first trek up the volcano with James, he remarked that Etna “is taking quality to a new level in the bottle. One example is the ripe yet fresh and polish of the 2022 reds coming on to the market, and the other is the consistent quality and complexity of whites mostly made from the carricante grape.”

But Milo takes Etna’s whites even further. As Salvino Benanti of the Benanti winery explained, it's only in the past 20 years that the village has gained prominence, thanks to the planting of carricante by professional growers. Before that, red grapes were often cultivated here, though they struggled to ripen in this cool, damp, and breezy microclimate.

"Milo is a singular place, marked by its full eastern exposure and the strong maritime influence that comes with it," Benanti said. "This proximity to the sea imparts a pronounced salinity – one of the defining traits of carricante grown in this part of Etna. As the sun shifts south and west throughout the day, temperatures gradually drop, especially at these high altitudes, allowing for a slow, measured ripening. The result is a wine that retains freshness and aromatic clarity, with a natural elegance rooted in restraint."

Even in June, one could walk the vineyards of Benanti, Maugeri or Salvo Foti without breaking a sweat, thanks to this rare confluence of mountain air and maritime influence.

Yet it’s undeniable that Etna’s fame was built on its reds. That’s the message from nearly 200 wines we tasted for this report, echoing the 300 we sampled last year – and a larger narrative of cultural rediscovery over the past two decades.

It’s a story we revisited one night over dinner in Linguaglossa with a handful of those who helped shape it, including Frank Cornelissen, a self-confessed “wine deviant” who founded his eponymous Etna winery in 2001, and wine merchant Marc de Grazia, the founder of Tenuta delle Terre Nere. They converged here, almost by accident, drawn by a shared obsession with great wine and a mountain unlike any other.

READ MORE CHIANTI CLASSICO 2025 TASTING REPORT: REDEFINING THE STRENGTH OF SANGIOVESE

Today, Etna boasts around 1,100 hectares of vineyards and produces roughly six million bottles a year. New projects continue to emerge: this year saw the launch of Diego Cusumano's single-vineyard Arrigo as well as Marchesi di Frescobaldi entering into a minority partnership with Tenuta delle Terre Nere.

The vintages can be as unpredictable as the volcano itself. As de Grazia pointed out, 2023 saw losses of up to 90 percent in some areas. But 2022, as we noted last year, was exceptional by Italian standards – and 2024 is already shaping up to be extraordinary.

“We are better every year in Etna,” de Grazia added. “We are more precise in our vineyards and winery, and you see the difference more.”

Among our top tastings was the Maugeri Etna Bianco Superiore Contrada Praino Frontemare 2023, a pure carricante that James called “an incredible Etna white that has the depth and intensity of a grand cru Burgundy … weightless and true.”

On the red side, de Grazia's Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso San Lorenzo 2023 impressed with its clarity and detail, a fleshy palate with full body, and crisp refreshing acidity and velvety tannins with a slightly dusty yet ripe texture.

Pietradolce’s Vigna Barbagalli 2021 offers depth and gravitas in its smoky complexity with earthy tones of a  Mediterranean wine, while for finesse, few wines matched the Giodo Nerello Mascalese Sicilia Alberelli 2022 from Carlo and Bianca Ferrini, which James commended for its intense aromas of ash and lava and added, “You can taste the high altitude space and century-old vines.”

Girolamo Russo’s San Lorenzo, the standout of our tasting Etna tastings last year, was not released this time around, but the 2022 Piano delle Colombe more than held its own with its refinement, layering, and unmistakably Etna character.

It’s wines like these that continue to show the consistent high quality coming out of Etna, regardless of color. Still, for James and me, comparisons often return to Burgundy — thanks to the remarkable structure and texture of Etna’s distinctive reds and whites, and the singular character of its vineyards (contrade), soils and microclimates.

– Aldo Fiordelli, Senior Editor, with James Suckling

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated by the tasters at JamesSuckling.com. Note: You can sort the wines below by vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.