Explosions of Flavor: Discover Volcanic Wines

Soave in Veneto, the vini dei Castelli Romani in Lazio, Aglianico in Campania or Moscato di Pantelleria.
What do these wines have in common?

Apparently nothing, but deep down, precisely in the soil, we find the common denominator that makes these wines unique in the Italian and indeed world wine landscape.
Volcanic soil. Italy, unlike its cousins across the Alps, boasts an incredible variety of grapes and terroirs, from extreme vineyards in Val d'Aosta reaching nearly 1,500 meters in altitude to the alberello-trained vines of Pantelleria swept by the wind.
We manage to produce wines in any accessible location – just go to Liguria on the terraced hillsides wrested from the land by human hands to see the small cable lifts used to transport grapes to collection points.

L'Etna represents an open-air laboratory of extreme viticulture, producing unique wines from Nerello Mascalese on the northern slopes of a perpetually active volcano.
Volcanic soils are among the best for high-quality production precisely because the terrains express a complexity and savoriness difficult to achieve elsewhere, thanks to their richness in phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium, which impart minerality and acidity to the wines.
Acidity understood as freshness – the natural hallmark of volcanic wines and a prelude to long life, especially for white-berried varieties.
A Soave from Pieropan, made from Garganega, is worth waiting a few years for, and you won't regret the wait.
The wine will reward you with aromatic notes of tropical fruit, candied citrus, mineral and briny tones.
It will be fresh and savory, yet also creamy and soft thanks to the restrained contribution of oak.
On the volcanic soils of the Castelli Romani, where Malvasia Puntinata expresses its best, the Santa Teresa from Azienda Fontana Candida is born.
A Frascati Superiore approaching 14 degrees of alcohol, with a nose rich in citrus, wild fennel, and well-integrated honeyed notes. A wine that is the child of its territory and in particular its terroir.
Volcanic soil also means sandy soil, formed by eruptions and the production of very fine ash.
Often, on these soils, the vines are still ungrafted – franc de pied – untouched by phylloxera, the insect that at the end of the 19th century destroyed much of Italy's and Europe's ampelographic heritage.
This same soil reappears in Campania in the prized areas of Vesuvio and the Campi Flegrei.
But Irpinia too is a volcanic zone, home to Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo, Falanghina, and the red Aglianico di Taurasi – an Aglianico we also find on the extinct volcano of Vulture in Basilicata, yielding wines of wonderful complexity and longevity.
Speaking of Aglianico, allow me a few words on the Taurasi Radici Riserva by Mastroberardino, a century-old estate that produces one of Italy's finest reds.
An Aglianico whose roots sink into volcanic soil, giving us a wine full of sun and evocative power – warm, spiced, tannic, and fresh.
A wine for long aging, a child of fire.
The same warmth we find in Ben Ryè from Pantelleria, a passito from Azienda Donnafugata.
This gem is born in the vineyard of Khamma, protected by dry-stone walls where Zibibbo resists the sea wind in holes dug into basaltic soil of volcanic origin. A passito with clear aromas of dried apricot, barley candy, rosemary, and zagara honey.



Wine is made in the vineyard – it is born from the soil, from the wind that passes through the rows, from the summer heat and the cold of the nights, from the sweat of the winegrower.
No wine will ever be identical to another.
What could a Chardonnay from Burgundy have in common with the Sicilian Chardonnay by Planeta?
Nothing – even though the grape variety is the same, the two wines will have their own story and their own aromatic character.
There is no point in pitting indigenous varieties against international ones, or appellations against appellations in a way that confuses the end consumer. Instead, it is time to speak of sandy wines, moraine wines, or volcanic wines – because as Prof. Attilio Scienza, Professor of Viticulture at the Università Statale di Milano, says:
"The quality of wine is beneath our feet."