Filippo Mangione grew up in Agrigento on Sicily's southern coast, where his family farmed vines and made wine for generations until the estate was sold off after his grandfather's death.
After university, he worked as a waiter, sommelier, journalist, and in wine sales and export across both the US and the UK. The more he sold other people's wines, the more he wanted to rebuild something of his own.
In 2011, he met the aging owner of a nearly abandoned vineyard in the contrada of Calderara Sottana and spent his life savings to buy it.
Today, Ayunta farms 2.8 hectares of old vines at 600–700 meters above sea level on the northern slopes of Etna, entirely by hand and without chemicals. The winemaking protocol is straightforward, with the goal of capturing the pure character of the terroir and the differences between each vintage.
