Italy · Etna

Terra Costantino

A family estate on Etna's southeastern slope, farming organically since before the volcano became fashionable. Dino and Fabio Costantino grow Nerello Mascalese and Carricante on volcanic terraces at Viagrande and Milo.

The producer

Dino Costantino recovered the terraces of Contrada Blandano during the 1970s and founded Terra Costantino in 1978, on the southeastern slope of Mount Etna in the Sicilian comune of Viagrande. His son Fabio now works alongside him. The estate says it became the first winery on Etna to achieve organic certification, in 2000, well before the volcano attracted international wine press attention and before organic farming carried any premium on that part of the island. Luca D'Attoma joined as consulting oenologist in 2010. In 2020 the family acquired approximately two hectares of terraces in Contrada Praino, in the commune of Milo, to produce Etna Bianco Superiore, a designation that requires vineyards within Milo at higher elevation.

The range runs from the entry-tier deAetna wines, a Rosso, Bianco and Rosato built for early drinking, to single-contrada bottles that name their source on the label. deAetna Etna Rosso is 90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Nerello Cappuccio, fermented with ten-day skin contact and aged in steel and medium oak: pale ruby, bright cherry, fine tannin. The Contrada Blandano tier adds more cellar time and concentration from the historic Viagrande vineyard. Contrada Praino Etna Bianco Superiore, from Carricante grown at altitude in Milo, shows tighter citrus, pronounced mineral salinity from the basalt, and a cooler, longer finish than anything produced on the lower southeastern slope.

Known for

Etna Rosso and Etna Bianco from Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Carricante and Catarratto; single-contrada wines from Contrada Blandano and Contrada Praino.

Notable facts

The story

The Stone in the Vineyard

When Dino Costantino was clearing the Blandano terraces in the 1970s, the work crews uncovered a stone millstone. The date carved into it was around 1700, which made it nearly three centuries old at the time of its rediscovery. Dino left it where it stood. The millstone meant that someone had been working this exact piece of volcanic ground, near-continuously, since before modern Italy existed, before the DOC system, before the concept of Etna wine as a category. For a man about to found a wine estate on a slope that had almost no international market, the stone was a kind of credential that no certificate could provide. It remains in the Blandano vineyard today.

From the atlas

Terra Costantino

At A Glance

The Producer

Dino Costantino recovered the terraces of Contrada Blandano during the 1970s and founded Terra Costantino in 1978. His son Fabio now works alongside him. The estate occupies the southeastern slope of Mount Etna, in the Sicilian comune of Viagrande, where the volcanic terrain sits at 450 to 500 metres above sea level and the aspect is warmer and lower than the northern and eastern slopes that generate most of Etna's international reputation.

Terra Costantino says it became the first winery on Etna to achieve organic certification, in 2000. That date matters because it places the commitment well before the international wine press discovered the volcano and before organic farming carried any commercial premium on the mountain. Luca D'Attoma joined as consulting oenologist in 2010, and in 2020 the family acquired approximately two hectares of terraces in Contrada Praino, in the commune of Milo, to produce Etna Bianco Superiore, a designation that legally requires vineyards within Milo at higher elevation.

Place

Etna's southeastern slope is less discussed than the northern and eastern crus around Randazzo and Milo that dominate the wine press, but it is where the volcano's long history of agricultural use is thickest. Viagrande sits at moderate elevation, 450 to 500 metres on the estate's Blandano holding, where the lower altitude and southern exposure push ripeness further than the higher northern sites. Nerello Mascalese on this slope tends toward rounder red fruit and softer tannin rather than the more austere, high-acid character that the northern crus produce.

The Praino holding in Milo operates at higher elevation on Etna's eastern flank. Milo is the only commune whose vineyards qualify for the Etna Bianco Superiore DOC designation, which requires Carricante as the primary variety and restricts production to that zone. The Costantinos acquired Praino specifically to enter that designation, adding a geographically distinct white wine to a range otherwise concentrated on the southeastern slope.

Soil And Site

Both holdings sit on volcanic basalt soils derived from Etna's eruptions. The basalt weathers slowly into mineral-rich, dark, freely draining earth that forces vine roots deep. No irrigation is used, so the vines draw from whatever water the porous volcanic substrate retains beneath the surface. The terraces at Blandano were built and maintained by hand over generations; a late-17th-century millstone that survived in the vineyard when Dino Costantino recovered the land in the 1970s anchors how long these slopes have been worked. Different grape varieties share the same terraces rather than being separated by block, a deliberate choice that sustains botanical complexity across the parcels.

Story

Dino Costantino recovered the Blandano vineyard before founding the estate in 1978, at a moment when Etna wine had almost no export market and volcanic terroir was an academic curiosity rather than a commercial argument. He planted and farmed the native grapes that had always grown on the southeastern slope: Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio for red wine, Carricante and Catarratto for white.

Organic certification in 2000 was a concrete decision with no obvious commercial reward. Etna was not yet fashionable. The premium that organic farming commands in wine markets today did not exist in the same form on this part of the island at that time. The estate frames the certification as a founding philosophy made formal rather than a strategic pivot.

Luca D'Attoma's arrival as consulting oenologist in 2010 coincided with the period when Etna began attracting serious international attention. His role was calibration: the estate already had the farming and the raw material; D'Attoma brought a cellar eye trained across multiple Italian regions. The 2020 acquisition of Praino in Milo was the first geographic expansion in over four decades, targeted at one specific wine and one specific appellation.

Vineyards And Cellar

All harvesting is manual. No irrigation is applied, which concentrates sugars and forces vines to develop deep root systems in the volcanic substrate. Pest control is organic throughout; the estate uses natural predators rather than synthetic treatments. Mixed-variety planting within the same terraces is maintained as a farming practice, not eliminated in favour of variety-separated monoculture.

The cellar is built underground, which keeps temperatures naturally cool without mechanical refrigeration. For deAetna Etna Rosso, destemmed grapes ferment on their skins for approximately ten days, with pump-overs to manage extraction without excess grip. After malolactic fermentation, the wine matures in a combination of stainless steel and medium-sized oak barrels before bottle ageing. The mix of vessel types and the relatively brief skin contact keeps the wine approachable rather than structured for long cellaring. The underground position of the cellar reduces energy use and allows passive temperature management across all wines in the range.

Wines

The range divides into two tiers. The deAetna tier covers the entry-level Etna DOC wines: the Rosso, Bianco and Rosato. deAetna Etna Rosso is a blend of 90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Nerello Cappuccio, fermented with ten-day skin contact and aged in steel and medium oak. It is pale ruby in colour, with bright red cherry and a light, fine-grained tannin typical of Nerello Mascalese at this elevation. The Bianco uses Carricante and Catarratto; the Rosato comes from the same red varieties. These three wines account for the bulk of the estate's 40,000-bottle annual production and are built for early drinking.

The Contrada tier names the source vineyard on the label. Contrada Blandano Etna Rosso DOC Riserva and Contrada Blandano Etna Bianco DOC come from the historic Viagrande holding. The Riserva carries more time in the cellar and more concentration than the deAetna Rosso. Contrada Praino Etna Bianco Superiore, from the Milo terraces added in 2020, is Carricante-led, with citrus and mineral character from the higher-elevation volcanic soil. Rasola is also listed in the official range; its exact composition is not confirmed in available sources. The Contrada wines are lower in volume, higher in specificity, and carry the geographic designation of their origin rather than the generic Etna DOC name.

In The Glass

deAetna Etna Rosso opens with pale ruby and red-fruit aromatics: cherry, dried strawberry and a faint earthy note from the volcanic soil. In the mouth, the ten-day skin contact gives enough tannin for shape without weight, and the combination of steel and oak keeps the mid-palate open and fruit-forward rather than closed by barrel character. It finishes with a clean, slightly mineral edge. Nerello Mascalese at this elevation does not produce a heavy wine; the tannin is fine and the acidity is lively, giving the wine its forward, drinkable quality.

Contrada Praino Etna Bianco Superiore from the Milo terraces reads differently. Carricante at higher elevation on the eastern slope produces a wine with tighter citrus, more pronounced mineral salinity from the basalt, and a longer, cooler finish. The acidity is firm enough to carry the wine through the meal rather than fading after the first glass. The elevation and the grape variety together suppress the warmer, rounder character of the southeastern deAetna wines and produce something more angular and driven by the volcanic substrate.

A Bottle To Understand It

Contrada Praino Etna Bianco Superiore is the bottle that says most about where Terra Costantino is going. It is Carricante from a specific location in Milo, the only commune allowed to use the Superiore designation, planted and built specifically for that wine. In the glass it is pale gold, with tight lemon and white grapefruit on the nose, a firm acid line through the palate, and a mineral, saline finish that the basalt substrate drives. There is no oak and no sweetness. Start here to understand what Carricante can do at altitude on Etna's eastern flank, and what distinguishes this estate from its own entry tier.

Anecdote

When Dino Costantino was clearing the Blandano terraces in the 1970s, the work crews uncovered a stone millstone in the vineyard. The date carved into it was around 1700, which made it nearly three centuries old at the time of its rediscovery. Dino left it where it stood. The millstone meant that someone had been working this exact piece of volcanic ground continuously, or near-continuously, since before modern Italy existed, before the DOC system, before the concept of Etna wine as a category. For a man about to found a wine estate on a slope that had almost no international market, the stone was a kind of credential that no certificate could provide. It remains in the Blandano vineyard today.

Final Word

Terra Costantino is a southeastern Etna estate with a longer organic commitment than almost any neighbour. The deAetna wines are straightforward, correctly priced entry points into Nerello Mascalese and Sicilian native whites. The Contrada Praino Etna Bianco Superiore is where the estate's ambition and geography converge.

Sources

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