In his 1991 Wine Atlas of Italy, English wine writer Burton Anderson was completely unimpressed by the lackluster red wines coming from Mount Etna at the time. What he did like, however, were the hard-to-find white wines from the volcano, which were produced either entirely or predominantly from the Carricante grape. Even today, there still aren't many of them – but that hardly seems to matter, as the current Etna hype appears to focus exclusively on the reds.
A mere 146 hectares – just 0.12 percent of Sicily’s vineyard area – are dedicated to Carricante. That’s difficult to understand, considering that wines made from this grape often resemble Riesling in several ways: they are precise, taut, and mineral-driven, with often piercing acidity, extremely low pH levels, and clear – though unlike Riesling, rarely overtly fruity – aromas.
They age brilliantly and become more complex over time. Unlike many German Riesling producers, the few Italian vintners working with Carricante make no concessions to residual sugar and allow malolactic fermentation to soften the wines slightly and make them a bit more approachable.
Carricante grows exclusively on the slopes of Mount Etna, at altitudes where red grape varieties start to struggle. Harvests can take place at over 1,000 meters above sea level, meaning they occur relatively late – which in turn allows the grapes to ripen perfectly. Carricante was once often blended with other, usually indigenous, Etna varieties (preferably Minella), but today most producers tend to let it take center stage on its own.
