ATA

ATA is Lavic Plenty of Etna's tribute to what they describe as Etna's oldest winemaking tradition in rosé form — a statement that places this wine not as a seasonal novelty but as a historical expression of how the grapes of this volcano have been vinified for generations. It is the estate's most delicate wine, and in its delicacy it makes one of the most convincing arguments for Etna as a source of serious rosé.

The grapes are drawn from the Contrada Salice — a genuine cru within the Milo zone that the estate returns to for its finest fruit — from vines bred using the traditional alberello system, with the plants resting on wire in the medium-textured lava soil and broad temperature range that characterises the site. The varieties are Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio — the two Nerello cousins that together define the red wine personality of Etna, here vinified to produce a rosé of quite different but equally compelling character.

The grapes are hand-harvested, then vinified into rosé in thermo-controlled stainless steel vats — a process that demands precision in timing, since the extraction of colour and aromatic compound from the skins must be carefully managed to achieve the delicacy that distinguishes a serious rosé from a merely coloured white. Ageing proceeds first in stainless steel, then in bottle — a clean, reductive approach that preserves the freshness and mineral character that Etna's altitude and volcanic soil deliver.

In the glass, ATA presents with the pale colour and luminous clarity that mark rosé production of genuine intent. The nose offers the delicate red fruit and floral notes of Nerello Mascalese in its most refined register — strawberry, rose petal, a hint of citrus — with the mineral background that is the unmistakable signature of the Contrada Salice terroir. On the palate, the wine is fresh, light, and persistent — with the structure to accompany a full meal rather than simply serve as an aperitif, and the mineral finish that places it firmly within the Etna tradition.

ATA is available through UniqueWines. It is a rosé that makes no concessions to the conventions of the category and no apologies for its origins.