| Producer | Eduardo Torres Acosta |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Subregion | Mt. Etna |
| Varietal | Carricante, Catarratto, Grecanico, Inzolia |
| Vintage | 2019 |
| Sku | 1133940 |
| Size | 750ml |
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Tasting Notes: The blend on the Eduardo Torres Acosta Bianco Versante Nord is a kitchen-sink mix of various grapes indigenous to Sicily. Half is the rare Minnella grape while the other half is a blend of Carricante, Catarratto, Grecanico, Inzolia and others. Eduardo organically farms parcels totaling 3.5 hectares on the north face or versante nord of Mt. Etna. Those parcels are scattered amongst 6 different contrade or districts (Pietramarina, Allegracore, Daini, Friera, Zucconero and Marchesa). The soils are sandy volcanic ash and the elevation ranges from 550 to 950 meters. Averaging over 50 years old, the vines are generally alberello-pruned, either as individual bushes or on wires depending on the parcel; the varieties are generally interplanted, with about 10-15% of the vines being white grapes separated out for this bottling. The bunches are hand-harvested, destemmed, co-fermented spontaneously with native yeasts and without sulfur in concrete tank without temperature control. Maceration lasts for 2 days. The wine is aged for 9 months in 10.5-hectoliter oak botti and concrete bottled without fining or filtration and with a tiny amount of sulfur.
Estate History: Sicily is often associated with traditions, and family lineage especially when speaking about wine. Many of our favorite wines from Sicily are generations deep within families that have been natives to the land. However, here we have a Sicilian wine made by a Spaniard man named Eduardo Acosta Torres. Hailing from the Canary Islands, specifically in Tenerife, Eduardo and his father owned a small plot of vines where Eduardo first fell in love with winemaking. He then left the island and headed to Sicily where he began as an intern for the legendary Ariana Occhipinti. With due time he would later start working at another winery that is familiar to our shop as well, Passopisciaro. With the experience gained from his past workings, Eduardo soon began producing his own wine.
He rented a few parcels of vines from Mt.Etna and brought them over to Ariana Occhipinti’s land in Vittoria. In Vittoria Eduardo Vinifies his wines and creates a small batch of two reds and a white. Eduardo farms all organically and by hand, using minimal to almost no sulfur. Versante Nord is named after the vines which Eduardo uses from the cool north facing sides of Etna Pietramarina and Verzella. The soils are rich in volcanic ash and are incredibly sandy. Most of the vines used are about 45 to 50 years old, and the other much older vines are close to 80 years old, which are also planted albarello-style, meaning they require significantly cautious hand-tending.
Due to the wines not being produced within the Etna DOC Eduardo cannot classify this wine as Etna DOC. He still uses 80% Nerello Mascalese from Etna but also blends in 20% of other native grapes both red and white such as Nerello Capuccio, Alicante, Minnella, Catarratto, Inzolia and more.
