Etna DOC affects the maturation of the grapes and therefore there is a significant difference between the harvest period of the Etna and the rest of the Sicily areas. The soil is volcanic and very rich in minerals. It is formed by the disintegration of one or several types of lava of different ages and eruptive materials such as lava, ash and sand. Containing all these particles, the crops cultivated on Etna soil benefit from nutrients like iron, copper, phosphorus, magnesium and others. Etna DOC Etna is a "Denominazione di origine controllata" (DOC) for wine from the Etna region in Italy. Etna
Mount Etna towns lie around or on cones of past flank eruptions. Since the year AD 1600, at least 60 flank eruptions and countless summit eruptions have occurred; nearly half of these have happened since the start of the 20th century. Since 2000, Etna has had four flank eruptions — in 2001, 2002–2003, 2004–2005, and 2008–2009. Summit eruptions occurred in 2006, 2007–2008, January–April 2012, and again in July–October 2012. The first known record of eruption at Etna is that of Diodorus Siculus. In 396 BC, an eruption of Etna reportedly thwarted the Carthaginians in their attempt to advance on Syracuse during the