Why it matters
The producer
The Costa family has farmed the eastern face of Etna long enough that their oldest Nerello Mascalese vines predate the Second World War. The estate was formally founded in 1988 and trades under the label Oro d'Etna, but the agricultural operation includes vineyard, apiary, and olive grove, and the wine operation is one part of a working farm that also produces around 30 tons of honey a year from nearly a thousand beehives.
The vineyard covers 5 hectares in the commune of Zafferana Etnea, at 550 metres on the eastern slope. The range is compact: two bottles under the Vena Aetna name, one white and one rosato, both made from indigenous Etna varieties. Low yields and grape selection are the stated production priorities, and the vineyards include blocks of markedly different ages, from parcels planted within the last fifteen years to heritage vines that exceed eighty.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Zafferana Etnea sits on the eastern face of Mount Etna, a quieter address than the northern contrade that generate most of the region's critical attention. The eastern slope is cooler and damper than the north, exposed to winds off the Ionian Sea and sheltered from the intense summer heat that builds on Etna's southern and western faces. At 550 metres, the vines ripen slowly, retaining acidity through a long growing season.
The soils at Zafferana Etnea are volcanic, derived from successive lava flows over centuries of eruption. Volcanic soils on Etna are typically low in organic matter, free-draining, and rich in minerals including iron, which registers in the wines as a flinty, slightly metallic quality in both the white and rosato. The eastern slope's cooler microclimate and maritime influence produce a different character than Etna's more widely discussed northern contrade: less power, more lift, with acidity as the dominant structural axis.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The five hectares at Zafferana Etnea are divided into blocks of different planting ages. The youngest parcels were established within the last decade and a half. The oldest exceed eighty years, farmed in the traditional Etna manner on volcanic terraces. Old Nerello Mascalese produces small berries with thick skins, which means more colour and tannin relative to juice volume: the grape's characteristic lattice-like tannin and high acidity come through more concentrated in old-vine fruit.
The winemaking approach keeps yields low and applies careful selection at harvest. The stated intention is to balance innovation with traditional cellar practice, though the range remains focused on expressing varietal and terroir character rather than imposing a cellar signature. The two Vena Aetna wines draw from the same vineyard, with old and young vines feeding the same labels.
Wines to know
The range in view
Vena Aetna Bianco is a blend of Carricante (65%), Cataratto (20%), and Minnella Bianca (15%). Carricante is the structural backbone: native to the eastern Etna slopes, it produces wines that are dry, saline, and flinty, with high acidity and a long, clean finish. In youth the wine is lean and mineral, with citrus and a stony quality. With bottle age, Carricante shifts toward yellow apple and ripe peach, and develops a petroleum-like character similar to aged Riesling. Cataratto, the widely planted Sicilian white grape, fills in body. Minnella Bianca, a rare indigenous Etna variety, contributes aromatic complexity that softens the wine's mineral edge.
Vena Aetna Rosato is 100% Nerello Mascalese. Nerello Mascalese is Etna's primary red grape, distinguished by its pale pigmentation, high natural acidity, and fine, lattice-like tannins. In red form it draws comparisons to Pinot Noir for its translucency and aromatic range; as a rosato, its pale colour and acid-driven character produce a wine that is dry, saline, and precise, with aromas of red cherry, pomegranate, and blood orange, and a mineral, iron-inflected finish.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Vena Aetna Bianco. It is a Carricante-led white, grown on volcanic soil at altitude on the eastern slope, and it carries the two things that define this address: high acidity and a mineral, saline quality that has nothing to do with oak or winemaking intervention. In youth it is lean and direct, citrus and stone, with a long finish. It explains what the eastern slope of Etna produces and what Carricante does with it. If you find a bottle with a few years on it, the shift toward peach and petroleum is worth understanding too: it shows how the grape ages, and why Etna whites are worth cellaring.