Alessandro Viola

Family business and the surfing bird

The Viola family has always had a strong bond with their terroir, indigenous grapes and wine. Alessandro and Aldo's father was a winegrower and produced some wine for domestic consumption. The brothers, impregnated with this culture, followed their own personal path and went on separate winemaking journeys. Alessandro graduated in oenology and viticulture, and gained experience around the world (windsurfing as well winemaking!) before deciding to come back home and solely focus on the family’s land. The visceral love for his Sicilian roots makes him a fervent advocate for native varieties and catarratto in particular. This sensitive grape is especially well-suited to that corner of Sicily and it beautifully conveys a sense of place when put in the right hands.

Eduardo Torres Acosta

The Sicilian- Canarian

first began working with vines in Tenerife where his father (a local postman) had a small plot of land. In 2012 Eduardo moved to Sicily, where he interned at Azienda Arianna Occhipinti (you may have heard of her). Soon thereafter he got a job as the enologist at Azienda Passopisciaro, one of the pioneers of Etna's new wave of producers. Despite Eduardo’s "outsider" status, he managed to rent several fine parcels on Etna from locals. Up until the 2017 vintage, the grapes were harvested and then trucked to Arianna Occhipinti’s estate in Vittoria. Since the winemaking facility was not on Etna, the wines were not allowed DOC status and simply carry the IGT Terre Siciliane designation. In 2018, Eduardo was able to convert a small Etna garage into a winery but has decided to keep the wines IGT. Today Eduardo works eight small parcels totaling 4.5 hectares. The main production is a wine called Versante Nord, produced in both white and red. Both wines are sources from six parcels totalling less than two hectares on the cooler, north-facing side of Mt. Etna (hence the name) at elevations ranging from 750 to 950 meters. In traditional style, he vineyards are mixed plantings of various local varieties. The red grapes include a majority of Nerello Mascalese with Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante, Garnacha and others; the whites include Minella, Catarratto, Grecanico, Carricante and Inzolia. The training is mainly alberello, in some cases growing as bushes and in some trained on wires.