“Day by day the vines deepen their roots into the fields. The wines mature with time. And so do the people on the lands. My family has been honed by 10 generations on the Etna.”
The story of my family is bond with the story of Villagrande. If you like to read ancient books, you will see that my ancestors lived and worked on these lands from the start of the 17th century already. At the beginning of the 18th century the Bishop of Catania gave to the Nicolosi Asmundo Family the task to turn the harsh fields of Etna from an “horrific and untamed place to a delicious garden”. My family arrived here on a wooden cart, they took a look around them and rolled up their sleeves starting to work this harsh volcanic land. Then in 1727 something happened, like in the fairytales. The Emperor Charles VI of Augsburg, King of Naples, bestowed Don Carmelo Nicolosi with the title of Baron of Villagrande.
My family then took roots that were stronger year after year. The bond with the grapes becomes indissoluble, giving birth to the oldest vines cultivation story on these lands, that continues today. After generations, from the Reign of the Two Sicilies we move to the newborn Italy. Italy was 8 years old when in 1869 Paolo Nicolosi built the new cellar for the winemaking and refinement. It was him, the first to make a wine from distinct processes for white and red grapes. Until then, on Etna as in almost entire Italy, wine was made by blending all the grapes together without any distinction of colour or variety.
He wanted to make different wines aiming to valorise the single varieties and their characteristics, creating the ancestor of what today is the Etna Bianco Superiore. In 1968 when the D.O.C. Etna was established, the first in Sicily, the disciplinary was written by Carlo Nicolosi Asmundo, enology and alimentary techniques professor at the University of Catania.
We wrote a fundamental page on the Etna wines history. The story is still going on.
Today Marco Nicolosi as Wine Maker and Production Manager continue to maintain their commitment on the territory with the aim of respecting and enhancing the heritage of the family and the peculiarities of the wine-growing area . The goal of the company, family and staff is to share the natural heritage of Etna, transfer the love and devotion of a unique and special place.