NORTHERN SLOPES OF THE ETNA VOLCANO (Province of Catania)
July, August and September were dry. On the 20t h of September there was a good rainfall that helped the vines. At the end of September and during the month of October the weather was wonderful.
Marco de Grazia owner of Tenuta delle Terre Nere (Etna Rosso DOC, Etna Bianco DOC, Etna Rosato DOC):…it is still difficult to judge the wines as they still have to go through malo-lactic fermentation…The grapes are the best that ever entered the cellar, as they were flawless and ripe…it hailed on the Calderara vineyard at the end of July, ” (hailstorms are generally localized, therefore it often happens that when a vineyard is hit the surrounding ones do not suffer any damage) “we therefore will produce only 5,000 bottles of wines on 11 hectares (the average is about 23,000 bottles) “…we had 25 days of wonderful sunshine during the harvest, so that we picked with a lot of care, selecting the grapes. ..The quality is extraordinary, grape yield was lower, but the grapes from our new S. Spirito vineyards re-balanced the total production….I presume that these will be the best wines we ever made…..alcoholic fermentation was perfect, without interruptions and lasted for 5-6 days…The wines are now all in wood where the malo-lactic fermentation will take place…..Also the white wines are the best I ever made. I cannot wait to taste the wines after malo-lactic…All this goes for the northern slope of the Etna Volcano, it was a wonderful vintage also for the vineyards on the southern slope, I am not so sure about the eastern slope. During this vintage the differences between a zone and another are very evident…in the best zones the wines are unequalled, 2006, 2007 and 2008 are three lovely vintages……..”

ISLAND OF PANTELLERIA
2008 was a dry year, but the soils of Pantelleria are volcanic, sandy and very fertile and are consequently not much affected by such climatic conditions. Salvatore Ferrandes owner of the homonymous winery (Passito di Pantelleria DOC):”….Passito is different from the other wines…The must yield was average (25 Hl) and the fermentation went very well…..We started picking in the vineyards near the sea and we continued in the inner zones (two months of harvest, from mid August till mid October)…”