Etna rosso, Calmarossa, Santa Maria La Nave - 2018

The history of Santa Maria La Nave - and the Mulone family's love for the vineyards and the nature of Etna - dates back to 1954, when Sonia Spadaro Mulone's grandfather, Giuseppe (known as Peppino), a gentleman farmer from Regalbuto, in the province of Enna, moved with his family to Catania in search of more comfortable and stable living conditions. His first job was on Mount Etna in Zafferana, where he worked in the vineyards. He was fascinated by the fertility of the volcanic soil, the luxuriance of the vineyards and the splendour of the grapes. His relationship with the vineyard and the volcano continued for many years, until the only son of the family, having refused to give in to the migratory flows that were emptying the island of many workers, bought a property on the island in 1980, in the commune of Viagrande. On the property, there was a small and ancient vineyard of nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio, which grandfather Peppino helped to maintain with love and passion, participating in the first harvests and in the vinification with artisanal and natural methods typical of the Etonian tradition.