Sicily's Mt. Etna is one of the hottest wine regions on the planet, and for good reason. While everyone's chasing Etna Rosso, the mountain's crisp, joyful whites are still flying under the radar — priced like nobody's noticed them yet. That's about to change, and Murgo's Etna Bianco is the proof. The Scammacca del Murgo family has farmed these slopes for over 100 years, through eruptions that have buried vineyard plots and even their own family home in ash. Up until the 1970s, this meant bulk wine — Baron Emanuele selling by the damigiana to friends and neighbors who'd stop by the estate for a refill and a chat. Everything changed in 1981, when Emanuele and his eight sons decided the time was right to stop selling jugs and start making a statement: focusing on Etna's volcanic terroir and its native Nerello Mascalese, with their first Etna Rosso following in 1982. For this clan, surviving an active volcano was simply the price of admission to one of the most dynamic, breathtaking wine regions on earth — and that same commitment now shows in every bottle.

This Etna Bianco is a 70/30 blend of Carricante and Catarratto, Sicily's two foundational white grapes, grown on 30-40 year old vines that plunge deep into decomposed volcanic soil on terraced eastern slopes between 1,400 and 2,000 feet up. The altitude swings hard — scorching by day, cold at night — which pushes harvest a full month later than the rest of Sicily and builds real tension into the fruit. Hand-harvested, destemmed, and cold-macerated for four hours before pressing, then fermented on selected yeasts in temperature-controlled steel and aged six months in tank on fine lees. The result: ripe apricot and citrus, jasmine and yellow flowers, a palate that's plush yet vibrant with lively acid and real volcanic minerality.

Why You'll Love It

• A 100+ year old family estate, 40 year old-vines plunge deep into volcanic soils at 2,000 feet elevation
  
  
• Sicily's two native white grapes, grown old-vine and high-altitude on an active volcano, with zero shortcuts in the cellar
  
  
• Etna whites this precise are still priced like a secret — at $20/btl on 6+, that won't last

How to Serve It

• Chill well between 46–50°F and serve in an all purpose white wine stem
  
  
• Enjoy with a heaping plate of Fritto Misto. Equally great alongside fresh grilled ocean fish, finished with lemon and good olive oil
  
  
• Drink now for its vibrancy, though the acid and structure suggest it'll hold a few years if you want to wait