Antichi Vinai

1877 — Giacomo Gangemi and the first generation

The family enterprise began in 1877, when Giacomo Gangemi inherited land in contrada Altarello from his grandparents and devoted himself to winemaking. As the activity prospered, Giacomo and his wife, Grazia Vicari, opened an inn near Mascali. Wine was sold there by the hour and accompanied by simple food served at rustic tables with checked tablecloths.

Alongside traditional red wine, Giacomo offered a lively mixture of red and sparkling wine—an early counterpart to a modern spritz. The drink proved popular with the inn’s customers.

1900 — Gangemi Giacomo & Figli

Giacomo and Grazia had five children: Giuseppe, Agostino, Andrea, Sebastiano and Maria. As the inn and family grew, Giacomo formed Gangemi Giacomo & Figli with his sons.

The family acquired further land on Etna’s eastern slope between Giarre and Sant’Alfio and on its northern side at Calderara, in the municipality of Randazzo, and at Passopisciaro. It also bought apartments in central Acireale for company offices and an analytical laboratory used to check both the wines it produced and those it purchased.

The four brothers divided the work. Agostino, known as Tino, bought wine, principally around Pachino. Giuseppe moved to Milan to sell the family wines in central and northern Italy and manage customers in France. Sebastiano supervised the vineyards and winemaking. Andrea handled accounting and analysed the wines made and purchased by the company. This division of responsibilities supported expansion onto the national market and across the Alps.

To simplify transport and accommodate increasing activity, the brothers developed a warehouse beside the railway at Guardia Mangano, Acireale. Barrels could be loaded directly onto trains for shipment elsewhere in Italy and beyond.

1955 and the quality transition

In 1955, another Giacomo Gangemi joined his father Giuseppe in the family company and subsequently assumed its management. During the wine-market crisis of the 1980s, he chose to transform the business rather than continue pursuing volume. Supported by his wife, Maria Grazia Porretto, he redirected production toward quality.

1990 — Fourth generation and Antichi Vinai 1877

In 1990, Giacomo worked with his sons Giuseppe and Marco, representing the fourth generation, to update production systems and improve both vineyard and cellar work while retaining the land and its produce as the focus of the enterprise.

This programme gave rise to the Antichi Vinai 1877 brand and a winery dedicated to producing and bottling quality Etna wines. The family also entered sparkling-wine production during the 1990s, beginning with Bollenere made by the Charmat method and later adding the semi-sparkling Neromosso.

2011 — Etna DOC Metodo Classico

In 2011, the sparkling range expanded with 1877, an Etna DOC traditional-method wine based on Nerello Mascalese vinified as a white wine. It followed the earlier Charmat-method Bollenere and Neromosso projects and extended the family’s exploration of Nerello Mascalese across different sparkling styles.

2019 — Fifth generation

Viviana and Sebastian, cousins and representatives of the fifth generation, took up the family legacy in 2019. They continue the work of their predecessors while concentrating on modernisation and digitalisation. Their approach preserves the connection to Etna, native Sicilian varieties and inherited production practices while adopting contemporary technology where useful.

Etna

The principal production centre is at Passopisciaro on the northern side of Mount Etna. The cultivated vineyards are distributed across all sides of the Etna DOC zone, with approximately 3 ha of Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio and Carricante immediately in front of the winery.

Etna vineyards occupy a rugged volcanic landscape where roots penetrate dark, porous lava rock and rows follow the geometry of traditional terraces. Soils range from sandy material of volcanic origin to skeletal lava-derived ground naturally rich in mineral salts. The combination of high elevations, Mediterranean exposure and marked day–night temperature variation supports ripening while preserving acidity, particularly for grapes destined for sparkling wine.

The north-side vineyards around Castiglione di Sicilia and Randazzo commonly lie at about 600–800 m, with strong diurnal shifts during ripening. Old terraced vineyards used for the family’s reserve selection extend across northern and southern Etna, around Passopisciaro and Biancavilla, at approximately 600–1,000 m. These skeletal volcanic soils allow Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio to achieve phenolic and sugar maturity at relatively low yields. Eastern-slope vineyards include volcanic and sandy soils, with some Catarratto vines at about 600 m. High eastern sites and the upper northern slope supply Nerello Mascalese harvested before full maturity for sparkling wine.

The range also draws on vineyards around Linguaglossa and Piedimonte within Etna DOC. The local microclimate favours healthy grapes and permits a reduced number of treatments.

Other Sicilian origins

Malvasia comes from volcanic island soils in the Aeolian Islands at about 100 m. Additional Sicilian vineyards include chalky-clay hills around Caltanissetta at approximately 500 m and sites around Santa Margherita Belice in the Agrigento area at approximately 350 m.

The vineyards are managed through sustainable practices intended to preserve the ecological balance of the terrain. The local microclimate supports healthy vines and allows treatments to be reduced without sacrificing grape quality.

Organic fertilisation is used, while plant protection relies on natural copper- and sulphur-based products. Phytosanitary applications normally do not exceed three treatments per year and are adjusted to the season, soil, individual vineyard and weather conditions. The operation is not certified organic.

Harvesting, pruning and canopy management are carried out manually. Mechanical intervention is limited to small tractors and motor hoes used for soil work. Grapes for still wines are picked by hand at maturity according to site and variety. Nerello Mascalese destined for sparkling bases is harvested by hand before complete ripeness, generally in mid-September, to retain acidity and moderate sugar levels.

Native varieties are the basis of the vineyard programme. Within Etna DOC, the cultivated vineyards are planted exclusively to local grapes. Older high-terrace parcels employ traditional alberello training, while cordon or counter-espalier systems are used elsewhere.

Cellar autonomy and grape reception

Production is conducted in Passopisciaro, and the cellars manage the complete sequence from grapes to estate bottling. Harvested fruit is cooled to 8–10°C to limit bacterial damage. Gentle pressing extracts the free-run juice from both white and red grapes.

White, rosé and red wines

White free-run juice is clarified and fermented at controlled temperatures of 15–18°C. Individual white-wine protocols can include cold maceration, gentle pressing and low-temperature fermentation.

Red grapes are placed in stainless-steel tanks for maceration and controlled-temperature fermentation. The general red-wine cycle lasts about two weeks before gentle pressing and maturation. Cold maceration and low-temperature skin fermentation are also used for a lighter Nerello Mascalese expression.

White, rosé and ready-to-drink red wines generally remain for about four months in large stainless-steel tanks before bottling. Some whites spend this period on fine lees, and selected portions of Carricante can mature briefly in 30 hl acacia casks before blending.

Ageworthy reds, including reserve wines, spend at least 12–24 months in large oak and chestnut casks. The reserve protocol can extend to 24–36 months in casks larger than 3,000 litres, followed by at least 12 months and, for Koinè, more than 24 months in bottle. Before bottling, Etna reds are transferred from large casks to broad stainless-steel vessels for approximately three to four months of settling and are then filtered.

The maturation cellars are excavated into lava basalt. Their stable temperature protects the wine from thermal shocks. All wines are bottled at the winery.

Oxygen and sulphur management

Inert nitrogen protects wine from oxidation and reduces the quantity of sulphur dioxide required. Physical stabilisation, careful sanitation and filtration further limit sulphite use. Clarification may employ processing aids of animal origin—including egg albumin, casein or caseinates, isinglass and gelatine—but these precipitate during clarification and do not remain as residues in the finished wine.

Sparkling wine

Nerello Mascalese from the eastern slope and the highest northern sites is picked before full maturity. The grapes are cooled to 8–10°C, and intact bunches are pressed very gently to obtain free-run juice. After clarification, the must ferments at a controlled 13–16°C. Separate cuvées are then blended and undergo tirage with sugar and yeast.

For the long Martinotti–Charmat process, secondary fermentation takes place in autoclave and the wine remains on its lees for at least six months. For Metodo Classico, secondary fermentation occurs in bottles temporarily sealed with crown caps and bidules; minimum lees ageing is 36 months, with individual wines extending to 48 or 60 months.

Traditional-method bottles undergo remuage on inclined pupitres. Yeast sediment collects in the neck, which is frozen before dégorgement. The vacated space is filled with the house liqueur d’expédition, after which the bottle receives a natural-cork closure and wire muzzle.

Naturally dried sweet wine

Healthy Malvasia and Corinto Nero grapes for Malvasia delle Lipari are partially dried in the sun immediately after harvest on traditional cane racks known as cannizzi. The wine matures for at least eight months in stainless steel and then for at least one year in bottle.