Terra Costantino

In Contrada Blandano wine has been made since the time of the Greek colonization and it developed under the Romans, who left as legacy the millstones, those structures that in times so distant already used gravity as a means for the many steps necessary for grapes to become wine. In the small estate of the Constantine family remains a millstone with inscriptions dating back to 1699 as evidence of a centuries-old activity.

This activity was dedicated to self-sufficiency until recent years, when Dino decided to change his path towards quality, followed by his son Fabio in the name of his attachment to the territory as follows: "We listen to the grapes, we smell the earth, we caress the vineyard. When the sun beats, when cold nights blow on the shoots, when the colours of the leaves change, we are there. But we don't make wine. Etna does the wine up here".

And in accordance with this axiom, the biological protocol was chosen to conduct the single body of about 10 hectares, between 450 and 550 meters above sea level, in Contrada Blandano, which is the company's heritage. Volcanic soils on which only ethnic vines are allowed, with the two Nerello red berries and Carricante and Catarratto for the white ones.

The oldest vines are planted with saplings, with densities of around 8,000 vines per hectare, which decrease to around 4,000 for the more recent spurred cordon vines. In the cellar, the advent of Luca D'Attoma has given further impetus to the search for quality, leaning towards the traditional large barrel for the two Blandano, which unfortunately are expected with the new vintage after the good performance sustained, for both, with 2014. Only steel is used for the white and pink wines, and cement and tonneau for the red wines of the DeAetna line.

This name tends to indicate "a philosophy before a wine", in fact it is taken from the title of a booklet of 1496, in which the future Cardinal Pietro Bembo disserts the conformation of the volcano after a trip to Sicily.