Luca Zumbo's grandfather bought this land after the war and split it between his three sons. His father, Salvatore, is the only one who held onto his share. It's Salvatore's tenacity that led Luca to take over the family's 0.3 hectare plot in Contrada Crasà, on Etna's northern slope. Luca trained as a physicist, not a winemaker, but he reclaimed the family vines in 2020 and released his first vintage in 2021. In 2018, father and son bought and replanted a second, small parcel a few kilometers away in Contrada Zottorinoto. Together the two plots produce two wines, both named Virgola.

Contrada Crasà, their original site, sits at 650 meters above sea level, inside the horseshoe-shaped band of Etna's DOC zone that runs roughly 400 to 800 meters around the northern slope of the volcano. This area is highly prized for its steep, terraces slopes and red, sandy volcanic soils. The Nerello Mascalese vines here are around a hundred years old, farmed organically on volcanic soil. Luca calls it the vineyard that speaks — "it tells the story of a family and all the work devoted to attaining the highest quality possible. Here you can see all my father's experiments."

Contrada Zottorinoto, also on the northern slope of the DOC, was replanted by Luca and Salvatore on a grid at 1.20 meters between vines, a spacing they designed themselves to improve air circulation. It's planted entirely to Carricante.

The name Virgola — Italian for "comma" — comes from Luca's background in physics: studying nature in its most elementary form, he says, isn't so different from studying it in its most emotional form through wine; the two are separated only by a comma, which isn't an endpoint but a beginning. Production is minuscule and entirely by hand.

Virgola Rosso
100% Nerello Mascalese from the 0.3 hectare plot in Contrada Crasà. Hand-harvested, destemmed, then macerated on skins for 12 days in temperature-uncontrolled vats before gentle pressing. Aged 4 months in steel, and then 10 months in regenerated oak tonneaux, and a minimum of 6 months in bottle before release. 700 bottles produced.

Virgola Bianco
100% Carricante from the Contrada Zottorinoto parcel. Hand-harvested; no malolactic fermentation to keep freshness and minerality. Aged 5 months in steel on fine lees with batonnage three times a week. 700 bottles produced.