Sciara 760 metri Etna Rosso 2022
The Wine
The 760 Metri Etna Rosso is, paradoxically, the lowest-altitude red wine Stef crafts.
As is Sciara’s trademark, the focus here isn’t the single vineyard or contrada, but the influence of altitude on the grapes grown across the slopes of Mount Etna. 760 metres is the average altitude of the vineyards that compose this wine — Taccione and Sciaranuova — sitting between 720 and 770 metres above sea level.
All vineyard work is done by hand by Stef, without irrigation or chemical treatments.
The blend is 90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Cappuccio, from vines ranging 15 to 75+ years old, planted in pure volcanic rock and sand and trained on both goblet and double cordon.
The grapes are hand-harvested and co-fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine then rests for 19 months across French oak barrels of different sizes and glass containers. No fining, stabilisation or additions at any stage, aside from a splash of SO2 at bottling for stability.
Nerello Mascalese with 5% Nerello Cappuccio. Total skin maceration time of 7–10 days.
17++/20 Pts Walter Spelling, jancisrobinson.com ‘Nerello Mascalese with 5% Nerello Cappuccio….Youthful mid ruby. Beautiful lifted, perfumed nose with wild strawberry, cranberry and cherry and with touches of exotic spice. Really bursting with personality and with a clear saline undertow. Salty, savoury and yet perfumed fruit palate with finely ground, persistent tannins. Firm and yet finely structured and something that can age…’
Pics 2 & 3: Our 1 on 1 dinner with Stef at the Centennial Hotel 27 July 26
The Details
Variety - Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio
Country - Italy
Region - Sicily
Sub Region - Etna
Extra - Cork
Year - 2022
Volume - 750ml
About the Wine Maker 
Founded in 2015 by Stef Yim, Azienda Agricola Sciara is one of Mount Etna’s most compelling young estates — built on altitude, instinct, and hand-farmed volcanic ground. A former Los Angeles sommelier turned winemaker, Stef arrived on Etna in 2014 and now farms nine contrade across the volcano’s northern and southern slopes, including Contrada Cielo — planted by hand in 2019 at 1,520 metres, making it Europe’s highest vineyard!
The name Sciara refers to the volcanic scoriae that mark Etna’s slopes, echoed in the estate’s labels and its philosophy: wines conceived around altitude rather than single contrada, grown on 100% volcanic soil, farmed without machinery or chemical inputs, and certified organic from 2023. In the winery, there’s no fixed method — just minimal intervention, no fining or filtration, and SO2 kept below 30mg/litre at bottling.
Micro volumes, old vines, and one of Etna’s most exacting reads on volcanic terroir.
