A tiny boutique Estate on the north slope of the Etna volcano, Le Vigne di Eli was established in 2006 by Marco de Grazia, founder of the iconic Tenuta delle Terre Nere. Born effortlessly as a gesture of love for his little girl, Elena, who is the leading light of the entire project, the small Estate is fruit of the selection of delicate and tiny vineyards located in areas of exceptional finesse, within the counties of Castiglione di Sicilia and Randazzo. From the very beginning Elena welcomed with joy the idea of creating «special» drawings for her bottles, and she designs the labels herself since then. Soon came the idea of devoting this exclusive and tender «child’s production» to children in need: so, a meaningful part of the proceeds go to the Meyer Pediatric Foundation Hospital in Florence. Over time, just like the wines produced from Tenuta delle Terre Nere vineyards, Le Vigne di Eli wines started showing great character and complexity, freshness and elegance, as well as a beautiful aging potential; therefore, Marco decided to select a few more plots of important quality in order to ensure the annual production of these beautiful wines. Nowadays, Le Vigne di Eli’s project has become part and parcel of Tenuta delle Terre Nere’s brand, as a unique and precious segment of it. The whole production consists of 8,000 bottles ca. and it includes four different wines, all produced from organically farmed vineyards planted with the native varieties of the volcano: Le Vigne di Eli Etna Doc Bianco, Le Vigne di Eli Etna Doc Rosso, Le Vigne di Eli Contrada MoganazziVoltasciara Etna Doc Rosso, Le Vigne di Eli Contrada Calderara Sottana Etna Doc Rosso.

As for Tenuta delle Terre Nere, the Etna Rosso DOC is our business card, a clear idea on the interpretation of the main red varietal on Etna. The wine comes from Nerello Mascalese grapes of our owned vineyards, with an average yield – in good years – of about 6 tons/hectare. The grapes are of a very high quality profile and the wine mirrors their quality.

Moganazzi and Guardiola, with Santo Spirito closely following, have always been considered the best terroirs of the Municipality of Castiglione, the largest of the northern slopes of Etna. Consequently, in 2007, when I discovered a very small plot of Moganazzi for sale, I grabbed it without hesitation. But it was so tiny that I decided to dedicate its splendid wine – three barriques! – to a charity project linked to the Meyer pediatric hospital in Florence

Calderara Sottana is our flagship Contrada: the wine comes from a tiny, tiny parcel of few thousands square meters, with very old vines, aging 100+ years. It’s a very small and dedicated production, just one barrel, that brings the unequivocal characteristics of this stony terroir.

Our Etna Bianco DOC is a wine produced with Carricante grapes, coming from the three slopes of the Etna appellation. Each of which, contributes, very clearly, with their specific organoleptic characters. The wine is smart and versatile, gentle and deep at the same time.