Tenuta delle Terre Nere is a Sicilian wine estate that cultivates vineyards on the slopes of Mount Etna. It is known for its high average vine age, including pre-phylloxera vines from which it makes exclusively DOC Etna wines.

Tenuta delle Terre Nere also porduces a range of Etna Bianco wines predominantly from Carricante, Catarratto, Inzolia and Grecanico. On top of this, the portfolio includes a range of single-vineyard wines that are produced from the highest-quality grapes of individual plots of the estate.

Terre Nere's vineyards encompass 55 hectares (135 acres) in four different subregions across the island. Altitude here ranges from 1960 to 3280 feet (600 to1000m) above sea level, creating steep slopes within an undulating landscape. The steepest gradients are closely terraced and require manual farming practices. Many vines are approaching 100 years old with a handful of plots over 130 years having been planted prior to the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th Century.

According to Greek legend, the god of wine Dionysus was the first to have planted a vineyard in Sicily; kick-starting the viticulture of the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It's one of the biggest wine producing regions in Italy with Veneto and Emilio Romagna the only two Italian regions that produce more. In all, the island has an impressive 134,000 hectares under vine although this area is shrinking year by year. This region produces a wide range of wines, both table and dessert wines and the grapes most famously grown there are the Nero d’Avola and Catorrato varietals. Nerello Mascalese is used to make the Etna Rosso DOC wine from the volcanic Mt Etna and Frappato is a the main grape of the Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG.

Sicily is blessed with the most favorable climate. The summers are hot and it hardly rains, and the winters are not that cold and frost is rare. The Mediterranean climate is ideal for growing wine grapes as the coastal winds drying out grapes overnight. Because of the warm and relatively dry climate, there are less risk of rot and mildew among the grapes, so chemical sprays are rarely used. The soil of Sicily is rocky and enriched with minerals that absorb the heat during the day and release it at night, which helps the grape vines maintain an even temperature while the air around it gets cooler.