Sicilia

Cirò, a small Calabrian town on the Ionian coast of Crotone, includes a wide territory stretching from
the shores of the Ionian Sea up to the first ridges of it’s beautiful hills, where it’s autochthonous species of vines contributing
to the production of the renowned wine Cirò D.O.C are situated.

The Girolamo Russo estate was founded in 2005 by Giuseppe Russo, The family are from
Passopisciaro, one of the villages in Etna’s most important grape variety, Nerello Mascalese.
15 hectares of vineyards are high up, between 650 and 780 metres above sea level surrounded by olive and hazelnut groves.
Many of the free-standing bush vines are over 80 years old, surviving in harmony with Etna’s black, mineral-rich volcanic soil.

In this so vined land, in 1997 their three families of growers decided to buy the brand “Cantine Vinci” and to start a new
adventure which would have involved them in the transformation of their grapes into wines with a distinct and constant
quality.

For over 100 years the Antichi Vinai winery (which translates as Antique Wine-Makers) has been making
outstanding wines on the northern slopes of Mount Etna. In this quest, the family relies not only on the classical grapes of the
region, but also on their passion for wine and the experience they have gathered over generations.

The winery is located inside an ancient millstone of the Eighteenth century, where you get the sensation of being welcomed
by the unmistakeable fragrant aroma of freshly pressed grapes and boiling must. All around, spread over an area of 15
hectares, head-trained bush vines renew a glorious past, but at the same time, look towards a promising future.

In 1852 Felice Spitaleri founded the winery planting on the fertile soil of the volcano with vines of Bordeaux grapes. Building
an impressive number of terraces and roads, erecting over 100km of dry-stone walls. In 1855 Bordeaux grape varieties:
Cabernet, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon, were planted on the black volcanic sand soil and on the dry stone wall terraces,
between 800 and 1000 meters above sea level on the volcano Etna.