We have been huge fans of Frank Cornelissen's wines for many years, and are delighted that they will now be available in Mexico. Frank's farm and vineyards are located in Sicily, in the northern valley of the active volcano Etna. Mount Etna has gained tremendous critic acclaim in recent years and is regarded as one of the regions with the highest potential for quality in Italy. The Northern Valley is considered Etna's top area for single-vineyard (contrada) red wines, similar to what one finds in appellations of Burgundy or the Barolo region of Piemonte. The estate consists of 24 hectares of vineyards, of which 13 hectares are planted with very old vines (some in the vicinity of 100 years old). The old vines are trained in the classic free-standing albarello system, and the vineyards are punctuated with fruit and olive trees. Bees,vegetables and grapes alike all abound in these complex micro ecosystems. Frank's light touch in the vineyards belies his strong conviction that a vintner should not seek to change or dominate nature, but instead work with her, listen to her, submit to her wisdom. In his own words: "Our farming philosophy is based on our acceptance of the fact that man will never be able to understand nature's full complexity and interactions. We therefore choose to concentrate on observing and learning the movements of Mother Earth in her various energetic and cosmic passages and prefer to follow her indications as to what to do, instead of deciding and imposing ourselves."