Variety: Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio

Giuseppe Russo left his native Sicily for a time, trained as a pianist and music teacher, and studied literature. But when his father, Girolamo, died, Giuseppe returned in 2005 to make “the best wines (I) can in this exceptional, often challenging but uniquely beautiful area.” Although the Russo family calls the area in and around Passopisciaro home, it is an interesting and dynamic place that is attracting winemakers from the all over the world. The Russos have 26 hectares of land, 15 planted to vineyards and the rest to olives and hazelnut groves. Their vineyards are on the north face of Europe’s largest active volcano, Mount Etna, in the north-eastern corner of Sicily.

Grown in the ‘contrada’ of Calderara Sottana at about 700 meters above sea level, the vines were planted from massale selection in the 1970s.The grapes are hand harvested and mostly destemmed before crushing. Fermented uses only indigenous yeasts and the skins are macerated in the wine for a total of about fifteen days before pressing. The juice ages in used puncheons for about 18 months before bottling. Only around 1,800 bottles are made annually.