Wine Review: Benanti Etna Bianco 2023

For today’s Wine-Searcher tasting our Wine Director, David Allen MW, tastes a white wine from one of the best wineries in the Etna region. Made from the rare Carricante grape variety, David tastes Benanti’s Etna Bianco 2023.

Benanti is a wine producer located on the slopes of Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily. It was established in the late 19th Century, and has been making wine from indigenous grape varieties in the Etnean terroir since. Today, Benanti has expanded to encompass vineyards in Pachino on the southernmost tip of Sicily and in Pantelleria, just off Sicily’s western coastline.

The estate’s Etnean vineyards are situated on the north-, east- and south-facing slopes of Mount Etna. These reach as much as 3300ft (1000m) above sea level, and are planted to Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Carricante and Minnella, which are used in Benanti’s Etna DOC and Etna DOC Cru wines. The vines are anywhere between 12 and 100 years old and are planted in sandy, volcanic soils that are high in minerals.

The unique Etnean terroir is also ideal for the cultivation of non-native varieties including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Benanti has been growing these grape varieties for over a decade for the creation of its Sicily IGT wine blends. This wine range also encompasses a varietal Nero d’Avola wine and a Moscato di Noto wine, the grapes for which are sourced from the Pachino vineyards, where the terroir is typified by calcareous, clay soils and a warm Mediterranean climate.

All of Benanti’s vineyards are harvested by hand and the juice fermented in steel vats. From there, the wine is either allowed to mature in tanks before bottling, or, after malolactic fermentation, is placed in small oak casks to mature for between 8 to 12 months. The grapes for the Passito di Pantelleria are harvested and dried naturally either in the sun or in a temperature-controlled ventilated environment.

To find out more about this wine, its price and where to buy it follow this link to the Wine-Searcher website: https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/benanti+bianco+etna+sicilia+italy/2023

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