The founder of his family’s winery on the slopes of Sicily’s famed volcano believed in its vines’ potential Giuseppe Benanti, a forerunner for the rebirth of Sicily's now thriving wine scene on Mount Etna visionary and ambitious winegrower," said Alberto Aiello Graci "He helped to set a glorious path for the wines of Etna believing in their value from the beginning and investing with seriousness and passion to position them among the great areas of the world We will all remember him with great respect." In some ways Graci and many other winemakers on Etna’s slopes today followed in Benanti’s footsteps Benanti was a successful executive in the pharmaceutical industry a Sicilian-based company founded by his father he helped to strengthen the company with his commitment and progressive policies Benanti’s forward thinking also extended to Mount Etna where he saw the potential in the area’s simple table wines even while most versions at the time were produced only for home consumption he called me to say that he wanted to come with me to Etna to see if there was any opportunity to purchase land," recalled Francesco Tornatore Tornatore winery in Castiglione di Sicilia and co-owner of a joint project on Etna with Piedmont’s Giacomo Borgogno & Figli "The following year he bought a piece of land bordering mine "[But that vision] was realized within a few decades as his wines from Etna [became] famous and appreciated in Italy and all around the world." Benanti’s wines were the only wines from Etna reviewed by Wine Spectator at the start of the 2000s Ultimately the winery would be lauded for its red blends and particularly for its Pietramarina white made from 90-year-old Carricante vines planted at roughly 3,100 feet above sea level in the town of Milo led the way for the surge of interest in Etna whites in the past decade and highlighted the ageability of these wines In 2012, Benanti passed the running of the family winery to his twin sons But he was still a regular presence at the winery and at tastings and events Benanti produces 14,000 cases of wine annually from 60 acres of estate-owned vines and long-term contracts Benanti’s sons began a new chapter in the winery’s history with the sale of a 40 percent stake to Renzo Rosso founder and head of the Diesel clothing brand who started to believe very early in the beauty and the potential of the wines from Mount Etna and who travelled around the world to communicate these values," said Alessio Planeta whose family winery makes bottlings from six estates spread across Sicily "Giuseppe was a courageous and uncompromising man," added Tornatore [those who] sold grapes or bulk wine for the markets of Veneto and Piedmont for many years to find the courage to invest and to start bottling [their own wine]." Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator's free Breaking News Alerts. Inside the first U.S. location of the French luxury retailer, guests can enjoy fine wine at … Phase one of the Viticulture and Winery Technology program’s new home, funded by a $10 … The Tuscan wine company has purchased a minority stake in Tenute delle Terre Nere; De … While the White House has paused tariffs on foreign wines at 10 percent for now, the trade … Vintners and guests at Italy’s premier spring tasting shared the belief that quality beats … The drinks giant is shifting all its wine focus to luxury brands like Mondavi, Schrader and … This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page a 4.8 Richter scale earthquake hit various villages around Catania in the vicinity of the Etna volcano The tremor occurred at 2.30 this morning and had its epicentre in the town of Santa Maria di Licodia The earthquake caused damages to buildings including the Santa Maria di Licodia church and the Ardizzone Palace Around 40 persons were hospitalised for treatment from shock or slight injuries The tremor was felt in Catania and the rest of the province other tremors were felt near Bronte – a 2.2 strong tremor at 2.14am and another one slightly weaker at 2.26am Twenty-one members of Baden Powell Scouts Malta – Mtarfa Group recently spent a weekend in Sicily at the invitation of the Belpasso and St Maria di Licodia Scout group to mark the feast of St George The group visited Mount Etna and Ragusa Valley among other activities Accommodation was provided by St Maria di Licodia parish church through the assistance of Don Nuncio Pugliese assistant president of Clero Scout and Baloo Internazionale of Associazzione Scout Cattolici Italiani please register for free or log in to your account.