Published by Jeremy.
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When we visited Sicily, we absolutely fell in love with Benanti on the eastern side of Mount Etna. From their entry level wines to premium contrada (single vineyard) sites, we really didn't have a bad pour there at all.
So when we buy an everyday drinker from Sicily at home, odds are good we turn to Benanti when we find them on our local shelves.
This is exactly what we did with their entry Etna Bianco, and if you have never had a good Sicilian white from Etna, don't overlook this one.
A Classic White from Etna
This Carricante from Mount Etna in Sicily was pale gold in color with medium aromas of yellow apple, honeysuckle, pear, grapefruit, pineapple, wet stone, chalk, saline, toast, and perhaps a slightly reductive note when we first opened it that went away quickly.
On the palate, it was dry with medium(+) acidity, body, and flavor intensity, medium alcohol, and a long finish. We had notes of lemon, pear, yellow apple, wet stone, toast, pineapple, grapefruit, beeswax, and white blossom.
One thing we love about Etna whites is that they almost always have a lovely complexity of flavors, particularly with some minerality and possible phenolic texture as well, and, while this one was just starting to get towards the intensity we love, we were pleased to find prominent notes all the same.
Etna Bianco Food Pairing – Garlic Scape Pesto
We paired this Etna Bianco with pasta with an oil-based garlic scape pesto as we thought the vibrancy and minerality would work nicely with the intensity of the pesto. As expected, the pasta helped elevate flavors of pear, wet stone, and textural beeswax which we quite enjoyed.
We had a side of peas with this one (not pictured), which, admittedly, did less for the pairing and only had more of a basic citrus pop as opposed to highlighting more robust flavor profiles.
Still, for the pasta, it's hard to say no with this pairing!
Score 4 / 5
We'd buy another bottle of this one.
Admittedly, we do think this bottle falls into the entry level category, if only because we know that more premium Etna Biancos can be much, much more intense in flavor concentration and complexity. But for a relatively affordable bottle that is a crowd pleaser, it is hard to skip this one all the same. For that, we'd always grab another bottle if it was within our budget.
Benanti is located at Via Giuseppe Garibaldi 361 in Viagrande, Italy. We have visited the winery in the past but purchased this bottle locally and enjoyed it in 2026.
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