Your ultimate source for everything related to China's wine market

Italy's historic Amarone producer Tommasi has just announced the purchase of 15-ha vineyards in Mt Etna, the latest entrant following investments from Piedmont's Gaja.

Sicily’s Mount Etna has become the new frontier of wine as another leading Italian wine group carved out a parcel of land in the volcanic region.

Italy’s historic Amarone producer Tommasi has just announced the purchase of 15-ha vineyards in Mt Etna, as the winery celebrates its 120th anniversary this year, the latest entrant following investments from Piedmont’s Gaja.

The Mt Etna winery, whose name is not disclosed, was founded in the early 20th century on the slopes of Mount Etna, 570 meters above sea level in the small town of Linguaglossa in the Etna Natural Park, a few kilometers from Taormina.

The estate covers 15 hectares planted to Nerello Mascalese and Carricante grapes respectively for the production of Etna Rosso DOC and Etna Bianco DOC.

It is nestled within the breathtaking natural beauty of this part of Sicily, which includes views of the sea and a huge natural formation of lava stone named Pietracannone. There is also a 1,500 square-meter large cellar facility on the property for winemaking and aging.  

The Tommasi family has yet to give a name to this new property.

Speaking of the purchase, Executive Director Pierangelo Tommasi says, “For 120 years we have had the ambitious goal of telling the story of Italy through its winemaking heritage and we are therefore proud to be considered among the best Italian wine ambassadors.

Today, Etna represents one of the most interesting and exciting wine territories both from a production and business point of view. We are proud to be able to add this appellation to our portfolio with the others that we already represent, such as Valpolicella Classica, Lugana, Montalcino, Vulture in Basilicata and Manduria in Puglia.”  

The agreement was signed with the Bambara-De Luca family, historical hoteliers in Taormina. “We have known the Tommasi family for quite some time and we appreciate their family union, combined with industriousness and expertise. These skills allow them to reach objectives beyond the classic Valpolicella area. The Tommasi family has also always had a vocation for the hospitality business, another important point we have in common,” says the Bambara-De Luca family.

“We immediately found ourselves on the same wavelength, with a common vision of enhancing the territory and its riches. I am sure this collaboration will give further prestige to the Etna region and to wine tourism in the area.»  

With this latest acquisition, the Tommasi family now owns a total of 780 hectares of vineyards throughout Italy. The family has been making wines since 1902, and today it has 7 estates in 6 wine regions of Italy including Tommasi in Veneto, Tenuta di Caseo in Lombardy, Casisano at Montalcino and Poggio al Tufo in the Tuscan Maremma, Masseria Surani in Puglia, Paternoster in Basilicata and a project in Umbria that will be ready in 2023.

Enter your email address to follow vino-joy.com and receive notifications of new posts by email.