Italy · Etna

Azienda Agricola Costa

A family estate on Etna's eastern slope in Zafferana Etnea, farming 5 hectares at 550 metres and producing two wines under the Vena Aetna label: a Carricante-led white and a Nerello Mascalese rosato.

The producer

The Costa family has farmed the eastern face of Etna long enough that their oldest Nerello Mascalese vines predate the Second World War. The estate trades under the label Oro d'Etna, founded formally in 1988, but the agricultural roots run deeper: vineyard, apiary, and olive grove sit alongside each other, and the wine operation shares the property with nearly a thousand beehives producing around 30 tons of honey a year.

The vineyard covers 5 hectares in the commune of Zafferana Etnea at 550 metres on the eastern slope, a cooler, damper address than the northern contrade that dominate Etna's critical conversation. The range is compact: two bottles under the Vena Aetna name, one white built around Carricante and one rosato from 100% Nerello Mascalese, both made from indigenous varieties. The parcels range from blocks planted within the last fifteen years to heritage vines exceeding eighty, and old and young vines feed the same labels.

Known for

Etna DOC white and rosato from indigenous eastern-slope varieties

Notable facts

The story

The Oldest Blocks

Some of the Nerello Mascalese vines at Zafferana Etnea were already old when the Costa family formally established the estate in 1988. The oldest blocks exceed eighty years, planted by an earlier generation on the same volcanic terraces the estate farms today. When the family built the range, they made one decision that sits behind both Vena Aetna labels: old vines and young vines go into the same wine. No separate cuvees, no old-vine designation, no hierarchy. The eighty-year-old plants with their small, thick-skinned clusters go into the same vat as the parcels planted fifteen years ago, and the blend carries more vine history and accumulated mineral concentration than a single estate name and two-wine range would suggest.

From the atlas

Azienda Agricola Costa

At A Glance

The Producer

The Costa family has farmed the eastern face of Etna long enough that their oldest Nerello Mascalese vines predate the Second World War. The estate was formally founded in 1988 and trades under the label Oro d'Etna, but the agricultural operation includes vineyard, apiary, and olive grove, and the wine operation is one part of a working farm that also produces around 30 tons of honey a year from nearly a thousand beehives.

The vineyard covers 5 hectares in the commune of Zafferana Etnea, at 550 metres on the eastern slope. The range is compact: two bottles under the Vena Aetna name, one white and one rosato, both made from indigenous Etna varieties. Low yields and grape selection are the stated production priorities, and the vineyards include blocks of markedly different ages, from parcels planted within the last fifteen years to heritage vines that exceed eighty.

Place

Zafferana Etnea sits on the eastern face of Mount Etna, a quieter address than the northern contrade that generate most of the region's critical attention. The eastern slope is cooler and damper than the north, exposed to winds off the Ionian Sea and sheltered from the intense summer heat that builds on Etna's southern and western faces. At 550 metres, the vines ripen slowly, retaining acidity through a long growing season.

On the label, the wines carry the Etna DOC appellation, the designation that covers wines grown on the slopes of the active volcano and requires grapes from the volcanic zone. Etna DOC whites must be based on Carricante, the native white grape of the eastern slopes; the Vena Aetna Bianco takes that requirement and builds around it. The volcanic soils, dark and mineral-rich, give Etna wines their characteristic saline lift and low pH, and at this altitude the thermal range between day and night is wide enough to keep the fruit concentrated without losing freshness.

Soil And Site

The soils at Zafferana Etnea are volcanic, derived from successive lava flows over centuries of eruption. Volcanic soils on Etna are typically low in organic matter, free-draining, and rich in minerals including iron, which registers in the wines as a flinty, slightly metallic quality in both the white and rosato. The eastern slope's cooler microclimate and maritime influence produce a different character than Etna's more widely discussed northern contrade: less power, more lift, with acidity as the dominant structural axis.

The Costa estate holds vineyard blocks of genuinely different ages. The oldest vines, at over eighty years, predate the formal estate and represent land that the family has farmed across multiple generations. Old vines on volcanic soil produce smaller clusters with more concentrated skins, and that concentration feeds directly into the depth and grip of the Nerello Mascalese fruit.

Story

The Costa family's connection to Etna's eastern slope runs back further than the 1988 founding suggests. The estate grew from an older agricultural operation, accumulating parcels across different generations, which is how a family founded an estate in 1988 and still holds vines that are more than eighty years old.

The cooperage background in the family's history gave the estate a particular relationship with wood and cellar craft, though the range as it stands today is focused on capturing the volcanic terroir rather than layering oak over it. The farm was never wine-only: the apiary and olive grove, which uses Nocellara and Brandofino olives grown on the southern slope of the volcano, belong to the same agricultural logic that shapes how the vineyard is worked. Low yields per plant and careful grape selection are the production commitments the estate names, and in a vineyard that includes eighty-year-old vines alongside newly planted parcels, those commitments have a clear physical foundation.

Vineyards And Cellar

The five hectares at Zafferana Etnea are divided into blocks of different planting ages. The youngest parcels were established within the last decade and a half. The oldest exceed eighty years, farmed in the traditional Etna manner on volcanic terraces. Old Nerello Mascalese produces small berries with thick skins, which means more colour and tannin relative to juice volume: the grape's characteristic lattice-like tannin and high acidity come through more concentrated in old-vine fruit.

The winemaking approach keeps yields low and applies careful selection at harvest. The stated intention is to balance innovation with traditional cellar practice, though the range remains focused on expressing varietal and terroir character rather than imposing a cellar signature. The two Vena Aetna wines draw from the same vineyard, with old and young vines feeding the same labels.

Wines

Vena Aetna Bianco is a blend of Carricante (65%), Cataratto (20%), and Minnella Bianca (15%). Carricante is the structural backbone: native to the eastern Etna slopes, it produces wines that are dry, saline, and flinty, with high acidity and a long, clean finish. In youth the wine is lean and mineral, with citrus and a stony quality. With bottle age, Carricante shifts toward yellow apple and ripe peach, and develops a petroleum-like character similar to aged Riesling. Cataratto, the widely planted Sicilian white grape, fills in body. Minnella Bianca, a rare indigenous Etna variety, contributes aromatic complexity that softens the wine's mineral edge.

Vena Aetna Rosato is 100% Nerello Mascalese. Nerello Mascalese is Etna's primary red grape, distinguished by its pale pigmentation, high natural acidity, and fine, lattice-like tannins. In red form it draws comparisons to Pinot Noir for its translucency and aromatic range; as a rosato, its pale colour and acid-driven character produce a wine that is dry, saline, and precise, with aromas of red cherry, pomegranate, and blood orange, and a mineral, iron-inflected finish.

No red wine is confirmed in the Vena Aetna range, and no single-vineyard or cru designations are used.

In The Glass

The Vena Aetna Bianco opens with a saline, flinty character that reflects both the volcanic soil and Carricante's natural profile. There is citrus in youth, lemon pith and green apple, with an acid line that stays firm through the mid-palate. The Cataratto component adds weight without softening the core, and the Minnella Bianca contributes a faint aromatic lift. The finish is long and tingling. Given time in bottle, the wine moves toward peach and yellow apple, and the mineral character deepens toward a petrol-like quality that Carricante develops in the same way old Riesling does.

The Vena Aetna Rosato is pale in the glass, reflecting Nerello Mascalese's naturally light pigmentation. Red cherry and pomegranate on the nose, with blood orange and a faint iron note behind. In the mouth, the tannins are present but fine, more like a texture than a grip, and the acidity is the dominant force: the wine finishes dry and saline, with a lift that comes as much from the volcanic soil as from the grape itself.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Vena Aetna Bianco. It is a Carricante-led white, grown on volcanic soil at altitude on the eastern slope, and it carries the two things that define this address: high acidity and a mineral, saline quality that has nothing to do with oak or winemaking intervention. In youth it is lean and direct, citrus and stone, with a long finish. It explains what the eastern slope of Etna produces and what Carricante does with it. If you find a bottle with a few years on it, the shift toward peach and petroleum is worth understanding too: it shows how the grape ages, and why Etna whites are worth cellaring.

Anecdote

Some of the Nerello Mascalese vines at Zafferana Etnea were already old when the Costa family formally established the estate in 1988. The oldest blocks exceed eighty years, planted by an earlier generation on the same volcanic terraces that the estate farms today. When the family built the range, they made one decision that sits quietly behind both Vena Aetna labels: old vines and young vines go into the same wine. There are no separate cuvees, no old-vine designation, no hierarchy. The eighty-year-old plants with their small, thick-skinned clusters go into the same vat as the parcels planted fifteen years ago. The blend combines fruit from the eighty-year-old plants and parcels planted fifteen years ago.

Final Word

Azienda Agricola Costa is a working agricultural estate that happens to make wine. The vineyard is on the cooler, less-discussed eastern face of Etna, the grapes are indigenous, and the range is deliberately small. The two Vena Aetna wines are built around the acidity and mineral character that the eastern slope and volcanic soil produce naturally. The oldest vines on the property are over eighty years old. Both facts shape what goes into the bottle.

Sources

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