Vino di Anna is a small, two hectare property run and managed by Australian winemaker Anna Martens along with Les Caves de Pyrene’s Grand Fromage, Eric Narioo, on the north face of Mt Etna, Sicily. Anna and Eric purchased and subsequently restored an old winery and Palmento in 2010. Their hand-picked grapes are farmed organically and sourced from 60 – 100 year old bush vines, the principal variety being Nerello Mascalese for the reds and fields blends composed mostly of Grecanico and Carricante for the whites. The vineyards, made up of mineral-rich volcanic soils, range from 760 m – 900 metres in altitude. The wines are made with minimal intervention: natural yeasts, no additives, no fining or filtering and little or no SO2. Three of Anna’s wines are made in Georgian qvevris from one of the country’s finest potters.
In just six years, Vino di Anna has emerged as one of the natural wine world’s most exciting labels, producing singular, intensely terroir-driven, and ultra-gluggable wines.
Here’s what Anna had to say at the Real Wine Fair 2016 about her Sicilian winemaking project, as well as what real wine means to here: