<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>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 vintage 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>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 vintage 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>
