Calabretta

  Calabretta winery, a family-owned winery located on Sicily’s Mount Etna, has been producing wine for over a century. By championing old vineyards and honoring the region's ancient winemaking traditions, Calabretta has made a name for itself in crafting natural, sustainably produced wines of distinction. Farming primarily 70-80 year old vines, many of which are ungrafted, winemaker Massimiliano Calabretta prides himself on his dedication to preserving the family's winemaking traditions and Etna's ancient indigneous varieties, earning the winery a reputation of being one of the great estates of Sicily. Their flagship wine, Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie, ages for 6 to 7 years in massive neutral oak barrels, resulting in a velvety texture and a convergence of value, character, and age that is rarely seen in Italy or the world. They also produce Gaio Gaio and Elisir from younger vines, and Nerello Cappuccio, all of which are equally compelling. Calabretta’s winemaking style is described as being a thousand miles away from other Italian wines, reminiscent of the compelling Brunellos and traditional Barolos of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

As part of their commitment to sustainability and responsible agriculture, Calabretta uses no chemical pesticides or herbicides, harvests by hand, carries out fermentations exclusively with wild yeasts, and uses Select Bio corks, the world’s first zero-carbon-footprint wine closure.