Ballasanti:
The Return and the Turning point
The Return of Manuela Seminara to her family’s land, to Sicily, to her Ballasanti, on the slopes of Etna overlooking the sunrise over the sea, where she was born and raised.
A Turning Point, too.
Her husband Fabio, with an eye to the future, uniting the various properties and, together with Manuela, bringing life to a new agricultural business, planning ten vintages, new vineyards and the design and creation of a new cellar.
The Return and the Turning Point, a loving synergy committed to producing vivacious and explosive wines, like thunder rocking the Earth to its core.
OUR HIstory
The winemaking business was started by Manuela’s maternal great-grandfather, Don Lorenzo, and his wife Donna Mara.
As was common in those days, Don Lorenzo’s wine was sold on the French market.
Don Lorenzo also planted two maritime pines to commemorate the birth of his children. They provided shade at U Ballasanti, thus named because, on days when the Gregale was blowing, Donna Mara would say that even the saints were dancing, so strong blew the wind. On that hilltop bench, with Mount Etna behind her and the Ionian Sea at her feet, Donna Mara would sit, let down her long, white hair, and breathe in the wind. A wind capable of bringing about a profound inner transformation.
Ballasanti has since become a magical and symbolic place where the women of the family rediscover the force of a powerful, sacred and ancestral femininity. But ‘U Ballasanti has also become a place that some guests take pleasure in visiting, experiencing the strength and energy of a land shaped by fire, stone, sun, sea, and wind.
It was however Don Angelo, their son, who diversified the business:
every one of Etna’s God-given bounties can be found on their land: citrus fruits, olives, figs, prickly pears, strawberry trees, chestnuts, pomegranates and quinces. Even a maple forest. And grapes, of course, wine grapes (Nerello Mascalese and Carricante), which he sold to his most valued clients.
It was through his example that Manuela’s emotional and cultural roots became fixed into the slopes of the volcano. In turn, she has had the same effect on her husband Fabio who has adopted this land as his own. And Ballasanti has become a place where guests too can enjoy visiting and experiencing the strength and energy of a land made of fire, stone, sun, sea and wind.
Ten years ago, the Turning Point. Fabio, with the proven managerial acumen of someone with a strategic outlook, decides to reunify the original winery and bring Manuela’s dream back to life. Their adventure begins, they hire staff and invest in new land, always on the volcano’s eastern slopes, from where they can watch the sun rise over the sea.
Thus the first wines curated by Manuela are brought to life once more.
the vineyards are expanding; new ones are being acquired. Today the property consists of approximately 19 hectares, of which 7.5 are in production with Nerello Mascalese and Carricante grapes over three locations producing seven labels, of which two are Select Etna Doc, each with a story that reaches far beyond the glass.
The Return and the Turning Point,
Manuela and Fabio are already planning their new winery in Piedimonte, which will also be on the slopes overlooking the rising sun.