In the last few years, Sicily and Mount Etna in particular have become well known for their red wines, particularly those made of the nerello mascalese grape, which we drank back in 2016.

This time, we will look at the white wines of Mount Etna, known as Etna Bianco. These wines are made largely, sometimes entirely, of carricante. As with so many Italian grapes, it was little known and little appreciated until the last 10 or 15 years, when winemakers began to show just how good carricante could be.

When grown in the right soils, under proper conditions, carricante makes one of Italy’s most compelling white wines, wholly different from any other. It’s a wine understood not so much for its fruitiness as for its savory elements, which is true of some of the world’s great whites.