Calderara Sottana (Etna Contrada)

Calderara Sottana lies on the northern slope of Mount Etna in the commune of Randazzo, in the province of Catania. It is one of the contrade listed in Allegato 1 of the Etna DOC disciplinare (MASAF text, last modified by DM of 19 January 2022 and rectified by DM of 14 March 2022), and Article 7 allows the denomination to be followed by an additional geographical indication naming the contrada the grapes come from. The MASAF list numbers it 25th in Randazzo and bounds it by the railway (str. Ferrata FF. SS.) and the SP 89 road to the north, the SS 120 road to the south, the boundary of the commune of Castiglione di Sicilia to the east, and str. Vie. Rumolo to the west. The same list carries a separate Contrada Calderara (number 22), bounded by the SS 120 to the north and the Montelaguardia lazzitto road to the south. Decanter's Tiziano Gaia reported in 2022 that a 2011 amendment of the disciplinare recognised 133 contrade and that the Consorzio's updated map shows 142, of which 25 are in Randazzo. Tenuta delle Terre Nere gives the altitude of Calderara Sottana as 600 to 700 metres on its 2025 wine page, and Benanti places its Calderara Sottana vineyard at almost 700 metres (Benanti website, 2026). The Consorzio describes the northern slope as the area with the highest number of producers and the gentlest slopes, with a cold climate protected by the Peloritani and Nebrodi ranges, where Nerello Mascalese is the most cultivated variety. The disciplinare (MASAF text) says the north slope (Randazzo, Castiglione, Linguaglossa) has the highest rainfall and strong day-night temperature swings, with average annual rainfall reaching 1,200 mm on the north and north-east slopes.

• Commune of Randazzo, province of Catania, on the north slope of Mount Etna
• Listed in Allegato 1 of the Etna DOC disciplinare; Article 7 allows the contrada name on the label as an additional geographical indication
• MASAF boundaries: railway and SP 89 to the north, SS 120 to the south, Castiglione di Sicilia boundary to the east, str. Vie. Rumolo to the west
• Altitude 600 to 700 metres per Tenuta delle Terre Nere (2025); almost 700 metres for Benanti's vineyard (Benanti website, 2026)

Tenuta delle Terre Nere writes on its Calderara Sottana page (2025) that of all the crus of the Etna DOC these soils are surely the stoniest, so much so that in typical spots the ground cannot be seen for the stones: fist-sized, light, a mix of black pumice and basalt. Its technical sheet describes the soil as volcanic, very stony, pumice and basalt with little ash. The estate traces the terroir of Contrada Calderara to lava flows and volcano-clastic deposits from the effusive and explosive activity of the Elliptic eruptive centre, roughly 60,000 to 15,000 years ago. It says five or six north-slope contrade have Elliptic terroir, that in three of them the igneous Elliptic material is mixed with alluvial soils left by floods of the Alcantara river, and that only three are 'pure' Elliptic terroir: Bocca d'Orzo, Calderara and San Lorenzo. Benanti describes the soil of its Calderara Sottana vineyard (Benanti website, 2026) as stony and volcanic, rich in organic matter, in 'ripiddu' (a skeleton of small pumice) and in minerals, with a sub-acid reaction. Tenuta delle Terre Nere suggests the name Calderara recalls heat, probably from the warmth the black stones hold and give back to the ground on cold nights.

• Stoniest soils of all the Etna DOC crus, per Tenuta delle Terre Nere (2025): fist-sized, light stones of black pumice and basalt
• Technical sheet (Tenuta delle Terre Nere, 2025): volcanic, very stony, pumice and basalt with little ash
• Elliptic-era origin, about 60,000 to 15,000 years ago; one of three 'pure' Elliptic north-slope contrade with Bocca d'Orzo and San Lorenzo, per the estate
• Benanti (2026): stony volcanic soil with 'ripiddu' (small pumice), rich in organic matter and minerals, sub-acid

Tenuta delle Terre Nere calls its Calderara Sottana perhaps the most complete of its crus. The Tenuta delle Terre Nere descriptor for the cru is wide-angle: a wine that contains, in the estate's words, what seems the widest spectrum of flavours, aromas and nuances, markedly autumnal and spiced, aromatic and austere at once. The estate also cites Don Peppino, who tended the Calderara vines for 70 years, calling its wines 'cremosi' (creamy). Girolamo Russo describes its Calderara Sottana red (website, 2026) as supported by an acid vein that makes it fresh and vibrant, with blackberry, currant and morello cherry on the nose alongside hints of Mediterranean herbs. Benanti describes its Calderara Sottana red (website, 2026) as ethereal and spiced with ripe red fruit on the nose, and dry, full and tannic on the palate. For the white, Tenuta delle Terre Nere says Calderara Sottana has the denser character of its two north-slope Carricante crus, and that both are fermented and aged in 10-hectolitre casks.

• Tenuta delle Terre Nere: perhaps the most complete of its crus, markedly autumnal, spiced, aromatic and austere at once
• Girolamo Russo: an acid vein that makes its Calderara Sottana red fresh and vibrant
• Harvest in the second ten days of October per Tenuta delle Terre Nere (2025); mid-October for Benanti (2026)
• Carricante white: the denser of Tenuta delle Terre Nere's two north-slope white crus, fermented and aged in 10-hectolitre casks

Tenuta delle Terre Nere, whose address is Contrada Calderara in Randazzo, says it has vinified and bottled its contrade separately since its first vintage in 2002, and lists Calderara Sottana among the seven north-slope contrade where it owns vineyards (2024). Its technical sheet for the Calderara Sottana Etna Rosso DOC (2025) gives Nerello Mascalese from 15 hectares of vines 50 to 100 years old, at 600 to 650 metres, with an annual production of 9,000 bottles. The estate's Prephylloxera bottling, 'La Vigna di Don Peppino', comes from two parcels that survived phylloxera within a vineyard of about four hectares in front of and to the right of its cellar; the estate says phylloxera reached Etna in 1881, that the vines are about 140 years old and own-rooted, and that Marco de Grazia decided in 2006 to vinify them separately. Its technical sheet (2025) lists 0.8 hectares and 5,000 bottles a year. The Calderara Sottana Etna Bianco DOC is 100% Carricante from vines 15 to 60 years old, 6,000 bottles a year (technical sheet, 2025); the estate says that in 2014, seven years after planting Carricante on the north slope, it began producing two white crus, Calderara Sottana and Santo Spirito. Benanti, which says it has made contrada wines on four slopes of the volcano since the 1990s, lists Calderara Sottana in Randazzo among its five contrade; its Contrada Calderara Sottana Etna Rosso is 100% Nerello Mascalese from north-facing vines of about 50 years, trained on spurred cordon at about 6,500 vines per hectare, and matures for 12 months in French oak tonneaux (Benanti website, 2026). Girolamo Russo bottles a Calderara Sottana Etna Rosso DOC from 100% Nerello Mascalese grown in Contrada Calderara Sottana (Randazzo), 2,000 bottles, from organically grown grapes (Girolamo Russo website, 2026); a Decanter tasting note by Tom Hyland (2025) describes its 2022 as from 50-year-old alberello vines. Frank Cornelissen lists MunJebel Rosso CD, contrada Calderara sottana, among its premier crus (Frank Cornelissen website, 2026).

Primary sources (MASAF, the Consorzio Tutela Vini Etna DOC, and producers' own sites for their own wines): https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Ff%252F6%252FD.b5bdd1dbb38eb7253e5a/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download, https://thewinesofetna.com/, https://thewinesofetna.com/terroir/, https://thewinesofetna.com/consortium/, https://thewinesofetna.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DOC_ETNA___Disciplinare_28_02_23.pdf, https://www.tenutaterrenere.com/contrade/, https://www.tenutaterrenere.com/grand-cru/calderara-sottana-rosso/, https://www.tenutaterrenere.com/grand-cru/calderara-sottana-bianco/, https://www.tenutaterrenere.com/grand-cru/calderara-sottana-rosso-pre/, https://www.tenutaterrenere.com/su-di-noi/, https://www.benanti.it/selezione-contrade/, https://www.benanti.it/prodotto/contrada-calderara-sottanaetna-rosso/, https://www.girolamorusso.it/i_vini/calderara-sottana/, https://www.frankcornelissen.it/our-production-2/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/etna-announces-nine-new-contrade-with-map-update-492184/, https://www.decanter.com/premium/etnas-star-winemakers-556926/. Last verified 2026-09-25