Passocannone

The first historical information about the Del Campo family date back to 1400, a time when there were 3 important noble families in Palermo: the Del Campo, the Moncada and the Lanza.

The first Del Campo who came in the area of Etna, in Randazzo, was a lawyer named Peter Del Campo; in 1535 he was at the disposal of Charles V following the king and his army in the historic crossing of the interior of Sicily to the Royal Palace of Troina before and then to the Royal Palace of Randazzo. Peter Del Campo settled here and started a family.

In 1611 one of his heir, a wealthy lawyer, built the palace in Via Fontana with adjoining law library that put at the disposal of the magistrates and lawyers of the time. The motto engraved on the stone door was "VALIS QUOD POTES” and the family coat of arms was made up of 3 red eagles on a white background.

In 1800 the family expanded the number of vineyards by purchasing other small estates of 7/14 acres each in the district of Castiglione di Sicilia (Pietramarina, Nemi, Cottanera, Passopisciaro), while in the town of Randazzo, in addition to Pirò they acquired Taccione and Arena. In March 1981 the Arena property has been completely buried by the lava flow.

Having scattered property was a precaution against possible lava flows. The most successful wine produced by the family came from Passopisciaro, whose upper part, called Passocannone, gave a red wine of incomparable quality of Etna and was in fact the most requested by merchants exporters of Riposto. The grandmother of the current owners told us that during the First World War, while his husband was fighting on the Piave, was enriched beyond all expectations with the sale of wine Passocannone and all her wines to importers whose English ships lined up at the port of Riposto. On his return from the war the grandfather, lawyer Giambattista Del Campo, had the incredible surprise to find a sack used for flour full of gold coins of Queen Victoria in a chest under the bed.