Etna is special regarding geology and terroir. Well, terroir is not just geology. So if we go to Etna, it’s special in terroir because it goes beyond geology. It is a geological matter, which is very complex because of the lava flows, the explosions, the different components of every flow. Here, we have a geological explosion and you have lava flows, which have different components, minerally. And then there is also the terroir sense of, I would say, the environment, the influence of weather, which is different in the northern valley, compared to the eastern side, compared to the southern side.

So there are a lot of aspects which make Etna, I would say, an extremely interesting and appealing winemaking area for great wines because it’s also very complex and, at moments, also complicated to understand, which makes it an incredibly intriguing area.

It needs to be interpreted. And so although we are also at the verge of this interpretation, there is a lot of things to understand and to know. We’ve got an incredible future for this, just because we are only at the verge of understanding all those small details, and intermingled they make it a very complex area.

Piemonte was actually my reference point in the search for a great winemaking area. And so when I arrived here on Etna, I found a lot of the values of Piemonte, the artisanal part, the rustic part, and this link from producer to soil, to territory, I found it in a very close way. Now, with Piemonte, as it was the end of the ‘90s, and it was already evolving into something very pristine, big cellars, and a lot of changes for the better economically, and also for the better for the wines. The wines were more refined in Piemonte.

And so when I arrived here, I found Piemonte from the ‘80s, the ‘70s and I thought, “Wow, I found a new Piemonte!” But on the other hand, I also am a little bit guilty of, partially me and I think also Marco de Grazia, because I think both of us, we are very much romantic winemakers, and I think we loved what we had seen in Piemonte. We live here today, but we also understand intellectually that this will not be the same in 20 or 30 years. Again, just like in Piemonte.

So it’s like a deja vu on what I’ve seen here and what I absolutely love. So what we have here is an unpolished jewel and a pure diamond, a raw diamond, and we are gradually polishing it, which means that we are also the cause of, let’s say, a new era of winemaking on Etna. So it puts you in a difficult position. So yes, I like that, but also, no, I don’t like that. I don’t want Etna to become a new Piemonte, although I would like it to become a new Piemonte. So it’s a very difficult complex situation, intellectually, what is going on on Etna today. I love it and maybe I wouldn’t like it to happen. So it’s a complex situation.