Magma Rosso - Contrada Barbabecchi - Sicilia D.O.P. - Frank Cornelissen

The Frank Cornelissen estate was established in 2001, when Etna as a wine region was still undiscovered. The vineyards are located in Solicchiata near Castiglione di Sicilia on the Northern slopes of the active volcano, in the eastern part of Sicily. The northern valley is considered today Etna’s top area for single-vineyard (contrada) red wines.

The farming philosophy is based on the acceptance of the fact that man will never be able to understand nature’s full complexity and interactions. They therefore choose to concentrate on observing and learning the movements of Mother Earth in her various energetic and cosmic passages and they prefer to follow her indications as to what to do, instead of deciding and imposing themselves.

The surface area of the estate is approximately 24 hectares, of which 13ha are old vines (some 100+ years) in the classic free standing alberello training system (Gobelet or bush-vine), 9ha of old vines transformed into modern rows with various width, approximately 2ha of olive growes and the remainder are fruit trees, vegetables and bush. In order to obtain profound, territorial wines, the grape yields are low, around 300 to 600g per vine for the top vineyards and wines, achieved by pruning very short in the dormant season.