Maugeri Contrada Praiano ‘Frontemare’ Etna Bianco Superiore 2022

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Classification: Etna D.O.C. Bianco Superiore
Grape variety: 100% Carricante
Production area: Eastern slope of Mount Etna, a single vineyard a vineyard faces east sea front located in Contrada Praino – Milo
Altitude: 700m a. s. l.
Soil: Sandy volcanic soil with high organic substance and rich in minerals.
Treatments: Limited to the use of sulphur and copper.
Vine density: 6000 vinestocks per hectare.
Growing method: Bush vine (“alberello”) on small terraces with dry lava-stone walls.
Harvest: 6th October.
Vinification and aging: The grapes are harvested by hands and undergo a process of cryomaceration for a few hours. The must is cold clarified and fermented for 30% in steel and 70% in small french oak barrels where aging on the lees for 8 months. The maturation then continues in stainless steel tanks for 4 months before bottling.
Production: 2,660 bottles.

About Maugeri

Maugeri is an exciting new addition to the Etna wine scene, their wine philosophy zeros in on white and rosé wines. The top whites, coming from Milo the only area permitted to label their whites, Etna Bianco Superiore are excellent.

The Maugeri family have returned to their home district to make wine once more. Dad Renato and his daughters Carla, Michela and Paola work with the very talented consulting enologist Emiliano Falsini (who collaborates with some of my favorite Sicilian and Tuscan wineries). The vineyards are visually dramatic, with 83 terraces, stretching between Contrada Praino and Contrada Volpare, through the pathways of the Milo forest, 700 m above sea level, on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna. The vines, planted with chestnut wood posts, cover 7 hectares in an amphitheatre of fertile volcanic soil, in a close embrace with the Mediterranean landscape. If you were to line up those lave stone walls, they would measure 2.8 kilometers in length.

Carla Maugeri is an architect, and her aesthetic choices can be seen in the clean label designs and marketing of the family wines. However, if you visit Etna, I absolutely recommend that you book your stay at the Maugeri family’s boutique hotel nestled within an enormous orange grove. Zash offers gorgeous accommodation with a Michelin-starred restaurant run by chef Giuseppe Raciti.

In the Vineyard

Etna, the volcano: energy that is renewed.

Viticulture on Etna is a challenge and a gift at the same time. The very particular microclimate of the area and the fertility of the volcanic soil offer the vine an ideal setting and give the grapes unique characteristics. Thus the link between the wines of the Maugeri Winery and the land of Etna flows in the vineyard and is sublimated in the bottle.

VINEYARD FACING THE SEA
The breezes blowing in from the Ionian Sea help the grapes flourish, keeping them healthy, dry and fresh. In summer, the leaves dance with a continuous, delicate movement, visible from the shade of century-old palm trees.

Sea breezes also benefit the dense natural undergrowth, promoting the wealth of native biodiversity beneath the vines. The turquoise line of the sea borders this vineyard and dominates the view.

VINEYARD FACING THE VOLCANO

The vineyard looking onto Mount Etna is the highest part of our Estate. The volcano makes its presence felt here with a white cloud hanging above the summit: sometimes snow, sometimes smoke.

On the one side is the oak wood, on the other the outline of the craters, where in the mornings, the first signs of life from the volcano appear.

In the Winery

Milo is the only area permitted for wines labeled Etna Bianco Superiore, according to the Etna D.O.C. rules.

Native varieties, with no modifications, making a positive choice to respond to the call of this piece of land, for the “white”. This is, in brief, the wine-making philosophy of Maugeri.

The local varieties are the stars of the labels: the Carricante (in purity), whose chosen place in the East is recognised by its mark as Etna Bianco Superiore, and the Nerello Mascalese, which produces an elegant rosé and Catarratto a fresh, fragrant white.

Where in the World is Maugeri?

Maugeri is located in Milo on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy.