Cantina Calcagno

Calcagno’s winery: a sip of volcano Etna

A volcano is the main actor in a Sicilian wine opera: we are talking about Calcagno’s winery. Let’s discover it together!

As the rules of journalism state, “the journalist has to be impartial and unbiased when he explains or talk about a fact.” Okay, this is the rule, but we at Kaataa are different, passionate, and enogastronomic enthusiasts (wine and drink tourism), and when we come across a producer of wine like “Cantina Calcagno” we cannot be impartial!

Calcagno’s winery is a unique, wonderful example of how a territory can be supremely responsible for the quality and the taste of a wine. We should say that the Calcagno family has another relative beyond his sons, daughter, uncle, etc. Calcagno’s winery has the friendship of the Etna, the biggest volcano on the island of Sicily.

Let’s take a step backward. Gianni and Franco are brothers who, in 2006, decided to delve into the treasure of knowledge that their grandfather gave to them about the cultivation of vineyards. Since that time – with Gianni in the cellars and fields and Franco dealing with the economic administration – the Calcagno brothers are on the path to excellence and the discovery of the real flavors of their amazing territory.

You need to close your eyes to imagine where Calcagno’s vineyards are. Amid the black lava flows and the yellow gorse bushes, the grapevines grow plentifully. If we could see under Etna’s black ground, we would see the roots of the grapevines that absorb all the flavors and aromas of this hardy place, where surviving is a challenge. Maybe this is why the wine has a different taste, a special taste, the taste of survival, the taste of a natural fight to stay alive.

These astonishing lands that sometimes seem like a lunar landscape are the ideal breeding ground of the Calcagno brothers’ grapevine. So, let’s discover some of their products.

Etna’s wines are modern products. Minerality, sensuality, and spicy flavors are the main characteristics of the wine from this territory. Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Carricante e Catarratto are the endemic, ancient, and unique grape varieties that you can find on Etna’s slopes. Where Nerello offers fine and elegant red fruits, Carricante is a white wine that contains all the flavors and zest of the sea, which is not so far from Etna. We’d like to give you more information about what there is inside a bottle of Calcagno wine, but sometimes writing cannot give to the reader the sensations that a good glass of wine can do. Reading involves the eyes, the brain, and the ground. A glass of wine involves the eyes, the brain, the earth, the nose, and the mouth, so please taste their wines!

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Anyway, we at Kaataa want to tell you another important thing about this wine company. In 2015 they took part in an experiment with the National Institute of vulcanology and geophysics of Catania. In practice, they wanted to study how the high altitude influences the products made that involve fermentation, like wine. So, they put a bottle of Calcagno wine at the altitude of 2,800 meters above sea level to ferment and to refine. The lower pressure and the almost total absence of bacteriological agents at that altitude on Etna allowed the wine to evolve slowly and very finely. It was an amazing result for the taste and quality of the wine.

Now the bottles are “downstairs,” they came back down from Etna and are available for everybody’s table, so take a sip of Etna!