In Castiglione di Sicilia, on Mount Etna, Tenuta di Fessina is an estate that has become known for the quality of its wines. Now it has opened up to accommodation and offers 6 rooms in the estate’s Villa, where there is also a swimming pool.
Three millstones from different eras, a gin and tonic garden, century-old vineyards clinging to the lava earth, ancient dry stone walls and the volcano, which incessantly makes its presence felt. Tenuta di Fessina, founded in 2007 in Contrada Rovittello in Castiglione di Sicilia, on the slopes of Mount Etna, is a place where time changes rhythm and perhaps even form, shaped by the magical energy of Mungibeddu (as Etna is called in dialect).
The context is strongly connoted: on one side the Circumetnea railway, on the other a valley that opens toward the Nebrodi Mountains. The lava landscape, the geometries of the rows of vines and the historical traces present in the artifacts have guided every design choice made by architects Lucia Papa and Paola Mariotto of Plug-in: arch, who with their sensitivity have sought to interpret ruins and millstones, rearrange spaces, introduce new functions, without ever betraying the identity of the site.
The approach was not one of imposition, but of listening. Listening to the place, to its vibrations, to the stories sedimented in the stones. In a territory as unstable and charged with meaning as Etna, before any gesture, there was silence. A silence charged with expectation, which allowed the forms, relationships and emotions of the place to emerge.
A small village of production and hospitality
Fessina estate today is configured as a small productive hamlet and welcoming, where the past lives on, not as nostalgia, but as an active trace, capable of generating new possibilities. Among these wine tourism, not only with tours and guided tastings of its iconic wines – including Etna Bianco A’ Puddara and Etna Rosso Riserva Musmeci, authentic reflections of the strong mineral character of Etna’s wines – but also on the accommodation front.
The beautiful winery led by Jacopo Maniaci, in fact, also provides six rooms of different sizes and locations: three exterior ones with independent entrances-Viddirami, Litturina and Istenna-and three interior ones carved directly above the ancient 17th-century Palmento (Tina, Canedda, Carateddu). A shelter dimension, a place to reconnect with the pure and vibrant nature of the volcano. Here Sicilian lace, decorated lava stone, burnished iron, art objects and Sicilian memories mingle with the primitive nature of forms and materials, leaving the mark of a contemporary vision to be expressed authentically.
A personal chef at guests’ disposal
Among the countless stay options, Tenuta di Fessina also offers an infinity pool and the opportunity to make use of a personal chef exquisitely Sicilian of the caliber of Marco D’Agati (Hotel Splendido Portofino, Grand Hotel Timeo in Taormina), who offers traditional Etna recipes and ingredients. After dinner, guests can tap into the collection of gins and tonics and choose their favorite topping directly from the specially designed garden with a range of medicinal plant varieties Ideal for making this thirst-quenching drink. The breakfast, finally, is prepared at home by the estate’s housekeeper: pistachio cake, raspberries, yogurt and cheeses from local producers, farmer’s eggs, homemade jams, and freshly baked bread, all to be enjoyed on the panoramic terrace or in front of the large fireplace in the mansion’s central living room.
Tenuta di Fessina wants to be a buen ritiro, the ideal place to lose oneself in the knowledge that one is doing so, among scents, flavors, silences, sunsets and the charm that the estate holds and gives back to those who are able to grasp it.
In Tenuta di Fessina’s exclusive villa you can rent 3 or 6 rooms, so 6 or 12 pax, with Sicilian breakfast included. Prices and availability on request by writing to hospitality@tenutadifessina.com
