<p><u><strong>Big thanks to Juliette Pope of Bowler Wine, whose diligent note taking helped flesh out this profile. The Quota N notes are verbatim her writing.</strong></u></p>
<p>Eduardo Torres Acosta, a young winemaker from the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="231">Canary Islands</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> first began working with vines in <glossary title="1391">Tenerife</glossary> where his father (a local postman) had a small <glossary title="1133">plot</glossary> of land. In 2012 Eduardo moved to<strong> <glossary title="951">Sicily</glossary></strong>, where he interned at <a href="http://louisdressner.com/producers/Occhipinti/">Azienda Arianna Occhipinti</a> (you may have heard of her). Soon thereafter he got a job as the <glossary title="422">enologist</glossary> at Passopisciaro, one of the pioneers of <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary>'s new wave of producers. Eduardo eventually decided to start his own project, and despite his "outsider" status, managed to rent several fine <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> on <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> from locals. Up until the 2017 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the grapes were <glossary title="521">harvested</glossary> and then trucked to Arianna Occhipinti’s <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1114">Vittoria</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Since the winemaking facility was not on <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="429">Etna</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the wines were not allowed <glossary title="1156">DOC</glossary> status and simply carry the <glossary title="535">IGT</glossary> <glossary title="1024">Terre Siciliane</glossary> designation. In 2018, Eduardo was able to convert a small <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> garage into a winery but has decided to keep the wines <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="535">IGT</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Today Eduardo works eight small <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> totaling 4.5 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="523">hectares</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The main production is a wine called "Versante Nord", produced in both white and red. Both wines are sources from six <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> totalling less than two <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> on the cooler, north-facing side of Mt. <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> (hence the name) at <glossary title="419">elevations</glossary> ranging from 750 to 950 meters. In traditional style, he vineyards are mixed plantings of various local <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1071">varieties</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The red grapes include a majority of <glossary title="713">Nerello Mascalese</glossary> with <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="713">Nerello Cappuccio</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="90">Alicante</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="508">Garnacha</glossary> and others; the whites include <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="661">Minella</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="249">Catarratto</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1322">Grecanico</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="239">Carricante</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1323">Inzolia</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The <glossary title="1039">training</glossary> is mainly <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="497">alberello</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> in some cases growing as bushes and in some <glossary title="1039">trained</glossary> on wires. </p>
<p>Two single vineyards are produced, "Pirrera" and "Quota N", the latter from a vineyard called Germana. "Pirrera" comes from a single <glossary title="330">contrada</glossary> located at 850 meters in altitude. The name of the vineyard, Pirrera, stems from the presence of <glossary title="1117">volcanic</glossary> stones which were extracted from a quarry during a lava flow in 1614. The vineyard had been largely abandoned and is slowly being restored by Eduardo. Lighter and fresher than the "Versante Nord" due to the higher altitude, this is a blend of 90% <glossary title="713">Nerello Mascalese</glossary> and 10% local varieties from vines of 50 plus years.</p>
<p>"Quota N" was first <glossary title="185">bottled</glossary> in the 2018 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Eduardo acquired this flat, half <span class="zalup"><span><span>-</span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="523">hectare</glossary><span>,</span></span></span></span></span> west <span class="zalup"><span><span>-</span><glossary title="430">exposed</glossary> </span></span>parcel of <glossary title="464">ungrafted</glossary> (hence <em>piedi franco </em>on label), 80-100-year-old, <glossary title="446">co-planted</glossary> <glossary title="497">bush</glossary> vines. It is surrounded by stone walls on very rocky, <glossary title="909">sandy</glossary> <glossary title="1117">volcanic</glossary> soils at the high <glossary title="419">elevation</glossary> of 1070 meters in the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="330">contrada</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> is named Germana for its historical family owner, but Eduardo was not allowed to use this and was also not premitted to use the Nave <glossary title="330">contrada</glossary> name because the site is too high to fall within <glossary title="1156">DOC</glossary> <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> Rosso rules. The local road is called <em>strada quota nave </em>and from this phrase, Eduardo pulled the "Quota N" name for the wine. The production is unavoidably miniscule, smaller even than the <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> size would suggest, due to the naturally low <glossary title="1129">yields</glossary> of these old-timers as well as to holes where they have died or stopped producing.</p>
<p>Winter 2024 was not a very cold one and unfortunately without snow. This lead to the budding of the vines started earlier than in previous years. Some rain in Spring helped face the early summer months.</p>
<p>We were very careful during the flowering in June, remembering how devastating it was in 2023 and fearing to find any spore of mildew. But the weather helped us in this sense, with a dry June and July followed by rains in August that led our plants to reach a good ripening.<br />
<br />
The harvest started on September 14th with the red grapes: a week earlier than in previous years. We started from the lowest vines, continuing in elevation. It was the hottest harvest we've ever had, reaching up to 30 Celsius and leading to the driest harvest we have seen in all my years on Etna. The ripening was very similar between one vineyard to another: we harvested the grapes in Nave, our highest vineyard on October 4th, 15 days earlier than usual, finishing the harvest in just 20 days.<br />
<br />
We can be satisfied with the production this year, with intense, deep reds. By incorporating a new vineyard planted in 2021, the Versante Nord Bianco will have a lower percentage of Minnella and more Carricante. We think that this will help bring more acidity to the wine. <br />
<br />
In 2024, we were able to produce the totality of our cuvées, unlike in 2023 where we only produced Versante Nord Rosso and the two whites .</p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1024/4b/ba/4bbac2ef52f6326579f76dd7e8668886.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1024/49/7e/497e01ada4beb288f147b9164a0ab313.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1024/4b/87/4b8743fd5d9f4af50bc2b6914894505d.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1024/d6/02/d60277935bae5d7628bad37f5b3790ac.jpg" /></p>
harvest report14.12.2021
A Very Hot But Ultimately Satisfying 2021 for Eduardo Torres Acosta
<p>This year began with a mild winter. Fortunately the spring was rainy enough and allowed us to face a very hot summer that reached 40/41 degrees, the first really hot summer for me here on <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Etna" title="429">Mount Etna</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> We worked at trying to cover the fruit as much as possible while keeping all the leaves. The positive side of this warm year was the fact that no treatment was necessary in the vineyard. In mid-September the temperatures dropped and this helped us slow down the “forced” ripening of the grapes.</p>
<p>In February we planted our first vineyard using a <glossary term="Selection Massale" title="941">massale selection</glossary> of our oldest vines. The vineyard was planted in <glossary term="Contrada" title="330">contrada</glossary> Santo Spirito, on the land where we hope to build our winery.</p>
<p>The <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> was very <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Concentration" title="324">concentrated</glossary><span>:</span></span></span> we started in mid-September and finished one month after in mid-October. For the lower <glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevation</glossary> vineyards we chose to make shorter <glossary term="Infusion" title="1378">infusions</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maceration" title="610">macerations</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> our way of trying to interpret the <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> and the grapes <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvested</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> For the higher vineyards instead we made longer <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maceration" title="610">macerations</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">Fermentations</glossary> have been very slow this year, again due to the high temperatures.</p>
<p>We are not lovers of hot <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary> here on <glossary term="Etna" title="429">Etna</glossary> but we are satisfied with the result obtained so far and waiting for the evolution of the wines in the coming months.</p>
<p> We send you some pictures and wish you the best for the new year!!</p>
<p>A hug,</p>
<p>Eduardo, Giulia and Tomás</p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/e4/46/e4464b5855b799efa140cc235b3cc45b.png" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/65/8e/658e387cf4aefa0543e50755d29a918e.png" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/96/08/9608f365f46e54851a6f52014a83fd6f.png" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/33/03/3303536f01394973885c602037f27237.png" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/30/f5/30f58fb091e0ced7b1562fbd8dcfa7c9.png" /></p>
<p>Dear Dressner family,</p>
<p>It has certainly been a difficult year. It was also not so easy to organize our space in the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>; however we feel lucky to have been able to work outdoors in the vineyard.</p>
<p>We had a cool spring and a mild summer with rains arriving on hot days, which was important in the <glossary term="Maturation" title="639">maturation</glossary> phase. The rains in the last weeks of September worried us at the time of harvest, but we had an October of sun that helped us to face the <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> with tranquility.</p>
<p>We are happy with the results in the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> at the moment and pending developments in the coming months. It seems like a good <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> as good as 2019 (which was my best <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> since working independently in <glossary term="Etna" title="429">Etna</glossary>). </p>
<p>In 2019 we started a recovery work of a vineyard called Sant’Alfio on the eastern side of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Etna" title="429">Etna</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> This year we have harvested the grapes and seperated them from the others; we are thinking about a new <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> from 100% <glossary term="Old Vines" title="740">old vine</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Carricante" title="239">Carricante</glossary><span>.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
The 2020 <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> also includes a new vineyard, the <glossary term="Contrada" title="330">contrada</glossary> Sciaranuova. This will replace the <glossary term="Single Vineyard Bottling" title="959">single vineyard</glossary> Pirrera wine. The vines are between 80 and 90 years old.</p>
<p>In September we <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottled</glossary> a new <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> called Arenaria. It's 100% <glossary term="Nerello Mascalese/Nerello Cappuccio" title="713">Nerello Mascalese</glossary> from vineyards that are than 70 years old, located in the territory of Castiglione di Sicilia at 700m altitude on Mount Portella, with northern <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposition</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The soil is composed of underwater <glossary term="Sedimentary Rock" title="940">sedimentary</glossary> <glossary term="Sandstone" title="910">sandstone</glossary> materials with a bit of light-colored <glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> and <glossary term="Quartz" title="842">quartz</glossary>; in this case we are no longer in the <glossary term="-Select term-" title="">volcanic</glossary> zone. From the vineyard you can see <glossary term="Etna" title="429">Mount Etna</glossary> and Nebrodi. Traditionally, vines were also cultivated in this territory and called “white lands”. We are trying to recover the area, since after three years of winemaking we find deeper and crunchier wines, expressing another <glossary term="Nerello Mascalese/Nerello Cappuccio" title="713">Nerello</glossary> texture. 2019 was a good year, so we decided to <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottle</glossary> it as a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Single Vineyard Bottling" title="959">single vineyard</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>2020 is also a very special year for me, since I became dad in July of a little man named Tomàs and my partner Giulia has become part of the company. Today we are three including Cedric, a French guy who also lives on <glossary term="Etna" title="429">Mount Etna</glossary> and helps us to work in total 4,5 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p> We have recently created a web page, please check it out.</p>
<p><a href="https://eduardotorresacosta.com/">www.eduardotorresacosta.com</a></p>
<p>Attached you will find some pictures from this year. </p>
<p>Thank you for the support this year, we wish you all the best for the new year,</p>
<p>Eduardo, Giulia, Tomàs</p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/1d/79/1d79d5cb9c3f6f502aa807c402c86849.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/cb/0a/cb0ad9d094f64ad172c7f38bb73a93ab.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/d8/91/d89107bad18c848eea87c966e69838ae.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/fd/19/fd197bf2ef085541aa68c87a3f7dfcd4.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/71/9d/719deb7652c783150212931f5a80e1ed.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/bc/90/bc90778edc53709c09e32b578e229ba0.jpg" /></p>
<p><u><strong>Big thanks to Juliette Pope of Bowler Wine, whose diligent note taking helped flesh out this profile. The Quota N notes are verbatim her writing.</strong></u></p>
<p>Eduardo Torres Acosta, a young winemaker from the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="231">Canary Islands</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> first began working with vines in <glossary title="1391">Tenerife</glossary> where his father (a local postman) had a small <glossary title="1133">plot</glossary> of land. In 2012 Eduardo moved to<strong> <glossary title="951">Sicily</glossary></strong>, where he interned at <a href="http://louisdressner.com/producers/Occhipinti/">Azienda Arianna Occhipinti</a> (you may have heard of her). Soon thereafter he got a job as the <glossary title="422">enologist</glossary> at Passopisciaro, one of the pioneers of <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary>'s new wave of producers. Eduardo eventually decided to start his own project, and despite his "outsider" status, managed to rent several fine <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> on <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> from locals. Up until the 2017 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the grapes were <glossary title="521">harvested</glossary> and then trucked to Arianna Occhipinti’s <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1114">Vittoria</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Since the winemaking facility was not on <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="429">Etna</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the wines were not allowed <glossary title="1156">DOC</glossary> status and simply carry the <glossary title="535">IGT</glossary> <glossary title="1024">Terre Siciliane</glossary> designation. In 2018, Eduardo was able to convert a small <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> garage into a winery but has decided to keep the wines <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="535">IGT</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Today Eduardo works eight small <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> totaling 4.5 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="523">hectares</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The main production is a wine called "Versante Nord", produced in both white and red. Both wines are sources from six <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> totalling less than two <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> on the cooler, north-facing side of Mt. <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> (hence the name) at <glossary title="419">elevations</glossary> ranging from 750 to 950 meters. In traditional style, he vineyards are mixed plantings of various local <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1071">varieties</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The red grapes include a majority of <glossary title="713">Nerello Mascalese</glossary> with <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="713">Nerello Cappuccio</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="90">Alicante</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="508">Garnacha</glossary> and others; the whites include <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="661">Minella</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="249">Catarratto</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1322">Grecanico</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="239">Carricante</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1323">Inzolia</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The <glossary title="1039">training</glossary> is mainly <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="497">alberello</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> in some cases growing as bushes and in some <glossary title="1039">trained</glossary> on wires. </p>
<p>Two single vineyards are produced, "Pirrera" and "Quota N", the latter from a vineyard called Germana. "Pirrera" comes from a single <glossary title="330">contrada</glossary> located at 850 meters in altitude. The name of the vineyard, Pirrera, stems from the presence of <glossary title="1117">volcanic</glossary> stones which were extracted from a quarry during a lava flow in 1614. The vineyard had been largely abandoned and is slowly being restored by Eduardo. Lighter and fresher than the "Versante Nord" due to the higher altitude, this is a blend of 90% <glossary title="713">Nerello Mascalese</glossary> and 10% local varieties from vines of 50 plus years.</p>
<p>"Quota N" was first <glossary title="185">bottled</glossary> in the 2018 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Eduardo acquired this flat, half <span class="zalup"><span><span>-</span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="523">hectare</glossary><span>,</span></span></span></span></span> west <span class="zalup"><span><span>-</span><glossary title="430">exposed</glossary> </span></span>parcel of <glossary title="464">ungrafted</glossary> (hence <em>piedi franco </em>on label), 80-100-year-old, <glossary title="446">co-planted</glossary> <glossary title="497">bush</glossary> vines. It is surrounded by stone walls on very rocky, <glossary title="909">sandy</glossary> <glossary title="1117">volcanic</glossary> soils at the high <glossary title="419">elevation</glossary> of 1070 meters in the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="330">contrada</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> is named Germana for its historical family owner, but Eduardo was not allowed to use this and was also not premitted to use the Nave <glossary title="330">contrada</glossary> name because the site is too high to fall within <glossary title="1156">DOC</glossary> <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> Rosso rules. The local road is called <em>strada quota nave </em>and from this phrase, Eduardo pulled the "Quota N" name for the wine. The production is unavoidably miniscule, smaller even than the <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> size would suggest, due to the naturally low <glossary title="1129">yields</glossary> of these old-timers as well as to holes where they have died or stopped producing.</p>
<p>Winter 2024 was not a very cold one and unfortunately without snow. This lead to the budding of the vines started earlier than in previous years. Some rain in Spring helped face the early summer months.</p>
<p>We were very careful during the flowering in June, remembering how devastating it was in 2023 and fearing to find any spore of mildew. But the weather helped us in this sense, with a dry June and July followed by rains in August that led our plants to reach a good ripening.<br />
<br />
The harvest started on September 14th with the red grapes: a week earlier than in previous years. We started from the lowest vines, continuing in elevation. It was the hottest harvest we've ever had, reaching up to 30 Celsius and leading to the driest harvest we have seen in all my years on Etna. The ripening was very similar between one vineyard to another: we harvested the grapes in Nave, our highest vineyard on October 4th, 15 days earlier than usual, finishing the harvest in just 20 days.<br />
<br />
We can be satisfied with the production this year, with intense, deep reds. By incorporating a new vineyard planted in 2021, the Versante Nord Bianco will have a lower percentage of Minnella and more Carricante. We think that this will help bring more acidity to the wine. <br />
<br />
In 2024, we were able to produce the totality of our cuvées, unlike in 2023 where we only produced Versante Nord Rosso and the two whites .</p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1024/4b/ba/4bbac2ef52f6326579f76dd7e8668886.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1024/49/7e/497e01ada4beb288f147b9164a0ab313.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1024/4b/87/4b8743fd5d9f4af50bc2b6914894505d.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1024/d6/02/d60277935bae5d7628bad37f5b3790ac.jpg" /></p>
<p>This year began with a mild winter. Fortunately the spring was rainy enough and allowed us to face a very hot summer that reached 40/41 degrees, the first really hot summer for me here on <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Etna" title="429">Mount Etna</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> We worked at trying to cover the fruit as much as possible while keeping all the leaves. The positive side of this warm year was the fact that no treatment was necessary in the vineyard. In mid-September the temperatures dropped and this helped us slow down the “forced” ripening of the grapes.</p>
<p>In February we planted our first vineyard using a <glossary term="Selection Massale" title="941">massale selection</glossary> of our oldest vines. The vineyard was planted in <glossary term="Contrada" title="330">contrada</glossary> Santo Spirito, on the land where we hope to build our winery.</p>
<p>The <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> was very <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Concentration" title="324">concentrated</glossary><span>:</span></span></span> we started in mid-September and finished one month after in mid-October. For the lower <glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevation</glossary> vineyards we chose to make shorter <glossary term="Infusion" title="1378">infusions</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maceration" title="610">macerations</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> our way of trying to interpret the <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> and the grapes <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvested</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> For the higher vineyards instead we made longer <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maceration" title="610">macerations</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">Fermentations</glossary> have been very slow this year, again due to the high temperatures.</p>
<p>We are not lovers of hot <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary> here on <glossary term="Etna" title="429">Etna</glossary> but we are satisfied with the result obtained so far and waiting for the evolution of the wines in the coming months.</p>
<p> We send you some pictures and wish you the best for the new year!!</p>
<p>A hug,</p>
<p>Eduardo, Giulia and Tomás</p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/e4/46/e4464b5855b799efa140cc235b3cc45b.png" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/65/8e/658e387cf4aefa0543e50755d29a918e.png" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/96/08/9608f365f46e54851a6f52014a83fd6f.png" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/33/03/3303536f01394973885c602037f27237.png" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//914/30/f5/30f58fb091e0ced7b1562fbd8dcfa7c9.png" /></p>
<p>Dear Dressner family,</p>
<p>It has certainly been a difficult year. It was also not so easy to organize our space in the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>; however we feel lucky to have been able to work outdoors in the vineyard.</p>
<p>We had a cool spring and a mild summer with rains arriving on hot days, which was important in the <glossary term="Maturation" title="639">maturation</glossary> phase. The rains in the last weeks of September worried us at the time of harvest, but we had an October of sun that helped us to face the <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> with tranquility.</p>
<p>We are happy with the results in the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> at the moment and pending developments in the coming months. It seems like a good <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> as good as 2019 (which was my best <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> since working independently in <glossary term="Etna" title="429">Etna</glossary>). </p>
<p>In 2019 we started a recovery work of a vineyard called Sant’Alfio on the eastern side of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Etna" title="429">Etna</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> This year we have harvested the grapes and seperated them from the others; we are thinking about a new <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> from 100% <glossary term="Old Vines" title="740">old vine</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Carricante" title="239">Carricante</glossary><span>.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
The 2020 <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> also includes a new vineyard, the <glossary term="Contrada" title="330">contrada</glossary> Sciaranuova. This will replace the <glossary term="Single Vineyard Bottling" title="959">single vineyard</glossary> Pirrera wine. The vines are between 80 and 90 years old.</p>
<p>In September we <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottled</glossary> a new <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuvée</glossary> called Arenaria. It's 100% <glossary term="Nerello Mascalese/Nerello Cappuccio" title="713">Nerello Mascalese</glossary> from vineyards that are than 70 years old, located in the territory of Castiglione di Sicilia at 700m altitude on Mount Portella, with northern <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposition</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The soil is composed of underwater <glossary term="Sedimentary Rock" title="940">sedimentary</glossary> <glossary term="Sandstone" title="910">sandstone</glossary> materials with a bit of light-colored <glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> and <glossary term="Quartz" title="842">quartz</glossary>; in this case we are no longer in the <glossary term="-Select term-" title="">volcanic</glossary> zone. From the vineyard you can see <glossary term="Etna" title="429">Mount Etna</glossary> and Nebrodi. Traditionally, vines were also cultivated in this territory and called “white lands”. We are trying to recover the area, since after three years of winemaking we find deeper and crunchier wines, expressing another <glossary term="Nerello Mascalese/Nerello Cappuccio" title="713">Nerello</glossary> texture. 2019 was a good year, so we decided to <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottle</glossary> it as a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Single Vineyard Bottling" title="959">single vineyard</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>2020 is also a very special year for me, since I became dad in July of a little man named Tomàs and my partner Giulia has become part of the company. Today we are three including Cedric, a French guy who also lives on <glossary term="Etna" title="429">Mount Etna</glossary> and helps us to work in total 4,5 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p> We have recently created a web page, please check it out.</p>
<p><a href="https://eduardotorresacosta.com/">www.eduardotorresacosta.com</a></p>
<p>Attached you will find some pictures from this year. </p>
<p>Thank you for the support this year, we wish you all the best for the new year,</p>
<p>Eduardo, Giulia, Tomàs</p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/1d/79/1d79d5cb9c3f6f502aa807c402c86849.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/cb/0a/cb0ad9d094f64ad172c7f38bb73a93ab.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/d8/91/d89107bad18c848eea87c966e69838ae.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/fd/19/fd197bf2ef085541aa68c87a3f7dfcd4.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/71/9d/719deb7652c783150212931f5a80e1ed.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//854/bc/90/bc90778edc53709c09e32b578e229ba0.jpg" /></p>
