Sicily
8 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Booking required 
Wine area
Etna
Black volcanic terraces on Europe's highest active volcano, the home of Nerello Mascalese and Carricante.
Benanti
Benanti is a family winery on Mount Etna in Sicily, run by brothers Antonio and Salvino Benanti. Its home is Tenuta Monte Serra in Viagrande, on the volcano's southeast side. Benanti is the only estate that farms vines on every slope of Etna. Parcels in Milo, Castiglione di Sicilia, Randazzo and Santa Maria di Licodìa are each bottled on their own. The grapes are native: Carricante for the whites, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio for the reds. Visits run Tuesday to Sunday, by reservation.
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Wines from Benanti
About Benanti
The Benanti family's link to Etna goes back to 1734. An earlier Giuseppe Benanti bottled wine from these vineyards in the late 1800s. The modern winery began in 1988, when his namesake Giuseppe revived the family's old farm below Monte Serra in Viagrande. He focused on native Etna grapes when international ones were the fashion in Sicily.
Benanti now farms vines on all four sides of the volcano. No other Etna producer does. Viagrande and Santa Maria di Licodìa face south and southeast. Milo sits high on the rainy east slope and grows the estate's Carricante. Castiglione di Sicilia gives the cool north-facing reds. Old vines at Calderara Sottana in Randazzo add a northern voice. The Selezione Contrade range bottles each contrada on its own, so the slopes never blur into one blend.
Three wines anchor the range. Pietra Marina is an Etna Bianco Superiore from Rinazzo, in Milo. It is among the longest-lived Carricante whites in Italy and set the modern standard for the grape. Serra della Contessa Particella No. 587 is an Etna Rosso Riserva from a small block at Monte Serra. Its Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio vines were planted before the phylloxera pest arrived. The wine ages for sixty months, five full years. Rovittello Particella No. 341 comes from a similar old plot at Dafara Galluzzo in Castiglione di Sicilia. Its 2017 vintage made the Wine Spectator Top 100 list.
Giuseppe's sons Antonio and Salvino took over in 2012 and share the vineyard and cellar work. The estate farms organically and ferments with native yeasts. In 2002 the family released Noblesse, the first traditional-method sparkling Carricante on Etna. A Nerello Mascalese rosé, Lamorèmio, now sits beside it in the same line.
Visits start at the nineteenth-century estate. Tours take in the historic Palmento and the Quadreria, an old cellar that now holds the family's paintings. They also visit the Bottaia, where the reds rest in barrel. Sommelier-led tastings cover the Tradizionali and Selezione Contrade ranges. Longer formats open up Pietra Marina and the Riserve. Tours run Tuesday to Sunday, by reservation, in Italian and English.
Plate I · SICILY
Benanti on the Sicily wine atlas
Winery
Benanti
Viagrande, Catania · Etna
Denominations Produced
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
4 bookable experiences at Benanti
4 tastings, checked by our editors. From €60.
Tasting & Tour
Selezione Benanti
2 hours
From €60 per person
Two-hour guided walk of the estate and Monte Serra vineyard followed by a tasting of four Tradizionali and Contrade wines from different Etna slopes paired with a selection of local food specialities. Italian language. Start times 10:30 or 16:00.
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on visit.benanti.it
Food Pairing
Selezione Benanti Contrade
2 hours
€90 per person
Guided tour of the estate and Monte Serra vineyard followed by a five-wine Contrade tasting paired with a four-course contemporary lunch (aperitivo, antipasti, primo, dessert) by the resident chefs. Italian language. Lunch sitting from 13:00.
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on visit.benanti.it
Food Pairing
Selezione Benanti Premium
2 hours
€120 per person
Estate tour plus a five-wine Contrade tasting expanded with the iconic Etna Bianco Superiore Pietra Marina, paired with a four-course contemporary lunch by the resident chefs. Italian language. Lunch sitting from 13:00.
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on visit.benanti.it
Food Pairing
Selezione Benanti Iconic
2.5 hours
€220 per person
Two-and-a-half hour estate tour and tasting of five of the most representative Benanti wines, with a focus on the Icone line, paired with a five-course contemporary lunch. Italian language.
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on visit.benanti.it
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What Benanti makes
Benanti's current bottle selection is led by Etna DOC. The clearest grape signal comes from Carricante and Nerello Mascalese.
Denominations
Key grapes
Common questions
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Benanti is in Viagrande, on the southeast slope of Mount Etna in the province of Catania, Sicily. The address is Via Giuseppe Garibaldi 361, about 15 km north of Catania city. The estate also farms vineyard parcels at Milo, Castiglione di Sicilia, Randazzo and Santa Maria di Licodìa.
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