From its founding in 1988 as Tenuta di Castiglione, Benanti has exhibited a proclivity for experimentation, innovation, and strategic property acquisition/de-acquisition. And the entity continues in this vein to this day, as illustrated graphically by the timeline below.
Giuseppe Benanti, once he hit on the idea of making quality wine on the mountain, saw experimentation as the key to determining the best varieties and soil that should be utilized in the effort. To aid in the endeavor, he enlisted the assistance of Professor Rocco di Stefano (Experimental Institute for Enology, Asti), Professor Jean Siegrist (Institut National de la Recherch Agronomique, Beaune, Burgundy), Langhe winemakers Gian Domenico Negro and Marco Monchiero, and local winemaker Salvo Foti.
The team conducted over 150 micro-vinifications in the initial trials and, after two experimental harvests, designated the 1990 vintages of Pietra Marina Etna Bianco Superiore and Rovitello Etna Rosso for bottling.
Vinous has, on a number of occasions, paid homage to Benanti and its role in the development of winemaking on Etna. In a December 2016 note Vinous mentioned Benanti as the "... first to believe and insist upon Etna's native grapes at a time when everyone on Sicily was rushing to plant Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot." In another mention, Vinous stated: "Credit must go to Benanti for having created the I Monovitigni series of wines, which showcased to great effect the characteristics and high quality of the likes of monovariety Nerello Cappucchio, Nerello Mascalese, and even Minella Bianco, at a time when little was known of these cultivars."
Benanti has shifted its territorial holdings from time to time to comport with its evolving business strategy. For example, Benanti initiated the company in Castiglione di Sicilia, even though the family owned property in Viagrande; property which had been used to grow grapes since the 1800s. When Giusepe felt that a broader Sicilia portfolio was in order, he procured property in Noto and Pantelleria. When he handed management of the business over to his sons Antonio and Salvino, they opted to narrow the focus to selected sites on Etna and sold the Noto and Pantelleria properties, along with some under-performing Etna properties, in order to effect their vision.
And that strategic repositioning continues today as Benanti deploys a "whole-Etna" strategy and streamlines its product portfolio to reflect that direction.
In an InstagramLive Chat with Anotnio earlier this year, I queried him about widespread deployment of Contrada-based winemaking on the mountain. He was emphatic that they were nowhere near knowing, with any degree of confidence, what effects individual contrada had on the wines; but they had that information for the slopes (what I call sub-regions). Shortly after this meeting with Antonio I convened a session with Benjamin North Spencer (The New Wines of Mt. Etna) and he laid out the sub-zone architecture that I subsequently captured in the below figure.
The figure below shows the Benanti property holdings/grape sources at the time of my 2016 visit.
The figure below shows the current Benanti vineyard architecture and two things should be noted vis a vis the 2017 map: (i) grape sources have declined from six locations to four and (ii) the current locations map closely to the sub-zone architecture which I depicted above.
The product architecture is built around the "whole-Etna" core with the Contrada series of wines but further leverages those sites to provide higher-value Riserva products to the customer base. At the other end of the spectrum, the Traditional wines provide a seamless entry point into these higher-order offerings.
It should be reiterated here that the Contrada series wines are not intended to showcase/compare contrada-specific qualities. If Benanti wanted highlight contrada differences, that would have been best accomplished by featuring intra-slope, rather than cross-slope, contrade.
The Etna terroir-based framework provides a flexible architecture for future Benanti growth. The northeast slope of the mountain is currently the only gap in the Benanti terroir wall. Beyond that, the company has shown that it can expand its product base by elevating portions of the existing stock. For example, it introduced two Riservas by so designating the upper portions of existing vineyards (Serra della Contessa and Rovitello) and devoting the remaining vines to the production of Contrada wines.
The company introduced the Rosata (successfully) a little over two years ago; is introducing a new sparkling wine in the near term (and bringing all sparkling wine production in-house); and is introducing the Contrado Rinazzo Etna Bianco Superiore to the market in 2020 (the 2018 vintage).
The true success of this effort will be reflected in how well the products are received on the market. And Benanti has opened a new front in this battle by collaborating with Wilson Daniels to have that organization import and represent its products in the New York tri-state area. Wilson Daniels represents producers such as DRC in that market and numbers the top restaurants and collectors among its clients. This partnership will add cachet to the Benanti line and, for current customers, may signal rising costs for these products over time.
In the short-to-midterm, however, we are all hostage to the whims of Covid-19.
