The Still & The VineSchool of Wine & Spirits
Benanti Etna Bianco 2022
White WineIssue 22

Benanti Etna Bianco 2022

Benanti Viticoltori · Benanti, Viagrande, Mount Etna, Sicily

$3013% proofMount Etna, Sicily — where the Benanti family revived their historic family estate on the slopes of Europe's tallest and most active volcano, planting the indigenous Carricante grape at elevations between 700 and 1,000 meters on ancient lava flows.
If fire built these eight bottles, then Benanti's Etna Bianco was built by the most patient fire of all — the volcanic eruptions that have been depositing mineral-rich ash and sand on the slopes of Mount Etna for thousands of years.

Kit Aromas

Tasting Notes

Nose

Green apple, white grapefruit, lime zest, white flowers, and a distinctive smoky, flinty minerality — like struck flint over citrus groves

Palate

Dry, taut, and mineral-driven — citrus pith, green apple, a saline brightness, fresh herbs, and a persistent volcanic minerality that anchors the palate

Finish

Long and precise with lingering citrus, salinity, and an ashy mineral whisper

Specifications
Varietal
100% Carricante
Blend
100% Carricante
Serve & Pair

Cocktail Suggestion

Cocktail — The Etna Spritz: 3 oz Benanti Etna Bianco · 1.5 oz Aperol · 1 oz sparkling water · Orange slice. Build over ice in a wine glass.

Food Pairing

Pair with: Grilled swordfish with capers and lemon — a classic Sicilian pairing where the wine's minerality cuts through the richness of the fish.

Train These Aromas
More from Benanti, Viagrande, Mount Etna, Sicily
Redbreast Lustau Edition
Irish Whiskey

Redbreast Lustau Edition

Irish Distillers (Pernod Ricard)

The Lustau Edition is Redbreast's most layered expression — a whiskey that seems to change shape in the glass. That final year in Lustau's first-fill Oloroso butts doesn't overpower the pot still character; it adds a last chapter to an already complex story.

$8092 (46% ABV) proof
Cragganmore 12 Year Old
Scotch Whisky

Cragganmore 12 Year Old

Diageo

Cragganmore 12 is the Speyside malt that rewards the patient nose. Where many single malts deliver their story in one dramatic chapter, Cragganmore reads like a novel with slow-building subplots. Those unique T-shaped lyne arms create a spirit of genuine complexity that unfolds over an hour in the glass.

$5080 (40% ABV) proof
Old Grand-Dad 114
Bourbon

Old Grand-Dad 114

Beam Suntory

Old Grand-Dad 114 is the thinking drinker's value bourbon — a bottle that punches so far above its price point it almost feels like a mistake. That 27% rye mash bill, nearly double the industry average, gives it a backbone of spice that would overwhelm a lesser whiskey, but here it serves as architecture for layers of caramel, chocolate, and charred oak to hang upon. The high proof isn't a gimmick — it's a magnifying glass, amplifying nuances that lower-proof expressions wash away. At under thirty-five dollars, this is a bottle that seasoned bourbon drinkers quietly recommend to one another.

$28114 (57% ABV) proof
Chairman's Reserve The Forgotten Casks
Rum

Chairman's Reserve The Forgotten Casks

St. Lucia Distillers Group of Companies

The Forgotten Casks is the rum world's most eloquent argument for the virtue of accidental patience. Those extra years of unplanned aging produced a rum of remarkable layered depth at a price that would be impossible if it were intentional.

$4580 (40% ABV) proof
More White Wine Reviews