High on the slopes of Mount Etna, Pietradolce is the Faro family’s tribute to Sicily’s volcanic landscape. Established in 2005 and based at Solicchiata, the estate combines a modern cellar with vineyards whose history reaches much further back. Nerello Mascalese is the central red grape, while Carricante shapes the whites. Northern-slope parcels sit at elevations of roughly 650 to 950 metres, and the estate also works an eastern site near Milo, bringing different aspects of Etna into the collection.
Old bush-trained vines are a defining attraction, including remarkable pre-phylloxera parcels that connect today’s wines with the mountain’s viticultural past. The family explores individual contrade, or vineyard districts, allowing small differences of place to emerge. Vigna Barbagalli is a particularly distinctive red, while Archineri offers another route into the estate’s old-vine character. These are wines whose appeal rests on perfume, freshness and structure, rather than a simple image of warm-climate Sicily. For wine lovers fascinated by origin, Pietradolce offers an expressive introduction to Etna’s altitude, ancient vines and deeply individual vineyard landscape.
