Calabretta

In the early-1900s, Gaetano Calabretta married “donna Grazia”, and purchased vineyards in addition to those he inherited with his marriage. In the years between 1920 and 1930, the wines were mainly sold in northern Italy. After War World II, their son Salvatore married a young woman “donna Concetta”, who also had substantial vineyard holdings. The addition of this land increased the company’s vineyard size even more.

In 1997, Massimo & Massimiliano (son & nephew of Salvatore & Concetta), built a new winery and started to bottle and sell the Calabretta wines all over the world. Today, they continue to make and champion the traditional wines of Etna rosso and Etna rosato, but also experiment with new single-variety wines, along with the wines of Climax and Contrada.

From 4 generations, the Calabretta family has grown grapes according to the century-old traditions of Etna. The Calabretta wines hail from the DOC of Etna Rosso in northeastern Sicily. The grapes here are primarily the indigenous Nerello Mascalese, with a bit Nerello Cappuccio interplanted. Massimiliano Calabretta also has a small vineyard of Pinot Noir, a grape that has been planted on Etna since the 1800’s. The vineyards are planted between 300 and 900 meters on the slopes of Mount Etna, an active volcano that looms in the distance for much of eastern Sicily.