Mount Etna, a sacred mountain and the highest active volcano in Europe, is a wine lover’s paradise for its unique terroir rich in minerals and the special “light” of the sun. Let’s discover some of its most beautiful wineries where to stay and book a wine tasting with a strong “Etneo” character.

Imagining the departure from Catania, one of the most convenient wine relais to reach is Nèroli Bio Relais in Belpasso, a resort created from an ancient monastery surrounded by orange and olive groves as far as the eye can see, perfect for savoring all the authenticity of a land that offers extraordinary products, obviously with a wonderful view of Etna and just 10 minutes from the city center.

Here Domenico (Mimmo) Salanitri, chef of the resort’s farm-to-table restaurant, uses zero-mile products that come from Dispensa Giarretta, a farm and winery managed, like the relais, by Patrizia Massimino and Ivan Pinieri who, after falling in love with this area, decided to purchase and begin the conservative restoration of the ancient religious site dating back to the 18th century. Here you can sleep in the charming former monks’ rooms and take a dip in the pool located in the beautiful garden.

The “Smoking God” has enchanted many generations of poets and writers, from Albert Camus to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

From there, you can continue for about 20 minutes and reach Palmento San Nicolò (palmento in old Sicilian means a site where grapes were crushed then processed to make) located in Trecastagni inside an ancient farm on Mount Etna, a relais with a swimming pool and a panoramic view of the vineyards of the Azienda Agricola Biondi, a renowned winery where extraordinary wines are born.

A winery founded at the end of the 19th century, it is now managed by Ciro Biondi, grandson of Cirino Biondi who already in the early 1900s with his brother Salvatore had won important awards for his wines, also included in the ‘Grande Libro d’oro‘ of producers by appointment of King Vittorio Emanuele III. Palmento San Nicolò is one of the most beautiful tasting “lounges” in Sicily, where you can taste the San Nicolò Etna DOC Rosso wine based on Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio grapes grown here.

Continuing to climb above sea level, the next stop is the Benanti winery, founded by the family of the same name whose arrival in Sicily dates back to 1734, the year in which its Sicilian branch was born after a descendant was sent there from Bologna at the behest of King Vittorio Amedeo d’Aosta.

Already at the end of the 19th century in Viagrande, on the south-east side of the volcano, the Benantis began to dedicate themselves as an amateur to wine production, but it was in 1988 that, thanks to the fervent passion of Giuseppe Benanti, the first family company was born, today managed by his sons Antonio and Salvino.

Over the years, Benanti has become a pioneer of winemaking in the Etna area, focusing its production on native vines and, the only Etna company that can boast its presence on every side of the DOC, selecting the best grapes from each of them for each type of wine.

A selection that can be tasted at the nineteenth-century estate at the foot of Monte Serra in Viagrande, first touching the century-old vines with your own hands, and then understanding, in the old palmento, the customs and techniques of winemaking, up to the visit of the historic cellar – today transformed into a wonderful art gallery that houses the collection of family oil paintings on canvas – and the barrel room, the place where the red wines are refined.

Continuing our journey, circumnavigating the volcano to the east, we reach the Cavanera Etnea Resort & Wine Experience estate in Castiglione di Sicilia, part of the Firriato Hospitality group, which takes its name from the area near the manor house, well-defined and protected, where the most precious crops were planted, synonymous with the “clos” of the French estates.

Founded by Salvatore Di Gaetano together with his family in 1984, the company relies on excellence in every aspect of the supply chain, with all of the vineyards certified organic, so much so that it has given rise to a true “Firriato method” and a collection of labels among the most internationally awarded in the region.

At the Cavanera Etnea Resort & Wine Experience, an estate approximately 600 metres above sea level nestled among the vineyards of Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Carricante and Catarratto, you can sleep in the original Palmento Suite within the seventeenth-century walls of the “small” Cavanera palmento.

The resort hosts also a heated outdoor swimming pool filled with salt water.

Or, you can book a tasting of the company’s most representative wines, such as Le Sabbie dell’Etna, a vibrant red that captures the volcanic soul of the area, and the Signum Aetna that comes from the vineyard populated by extraordinary plants, some of which are over 120 years old.

The Secret

Near Castiglione di Sicilia, you can discover Randazzo, one of the most beautiful medieval villages in Sicily and one of the main stations of the Circumetnea Railway, an ancient railway line dating back to the end of the 19th century.

Photos credits for Benanti Ph. Leif Carlsson