Pietradolce

Pietradolce is a wine producer in Solicchiata, a hamlet near Castiglione di Sicilia on the northern slope of Mount Etna. Its vineyards cover 30 hectares across Rampante, Zottorinotto, Santo Spirito and Feudo di Mezzo, at altitudes of 650–950 metres. A further two hectares lie on the eastern slope in Contrada Caselle, in Milo, at 850 metres. It grows only native varieties, Carricante and Nerello Mascalese, and trains its vines as bush vines; most plants are pre-phylloxera and between 90 and 150 years old. The grapes are harvested and sorted by hand before fermentation in tulip-shaped raw concrete vats, each holding 40 hectolitres. These stand in a fermentation room insulated by thick lava-stone walls. The red wines then mature in oak barrels in an underground barrel cellar.