Stef Yim’s father is from Hong Kong and his mother is Japanese, but he grew up in Pasadena and Santa Monica. He started work as a sommelier in the USA and worked in an enoteca/restaurant, and enjoyed it so much that after just one year of college he quit to work in hospitality full time.

In 2006 he began his CMS (Court of Master Sommelier) exams, and then started making wine in northern California in 2008. He purchased some grapes and the guy who sold them to him helped him to make wine. But this wasn’t Napa: he much preferred working with cooler climate wine. ‘I gravitate towards elegance and purity,’ says Stef. He did this for a couple of years and then moved to Madiran in southwest France, where he loved working with Tannat, Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng.

Then he had a decision to make. Where did he want to work? He fell in love with wines from volcanic soils, and initially was leaning towards moving to Tenerife. But there was no good pasta, no good pizza and it was a long way from everywhere. In the end he opted for Etna – he’d travelled there numerous times while working in France. His reasons were threefold.

First, altitude. The threat of global warming is severe and Etna’s altitude gives options.

Second, the volcanic soils are amazing and allows for wines that evolve, as long as you don’t adjust the wines too much and make them naturally.

Third, it’s one of the few places in Europe you can still find 100 year old vines.

He began in Etna in 2015, and since then has accumulated nine different vineyard plots, in the North, West and South of the mountain.

A distinctive feature of Etna’s soils are the lapilli, which are smally fragments released by eruptions and which replenish the soils from time to time. Nowhere else in the wine world has these frequently replenished soils.

Stef’s vineyards have been organically certified since last year, and he only makes wines from estate vineyards. In 2023, like many others, he suffered from downy mildew and lost 60% of the crop.

In terms of winemaking, ‘I don’t follow any particular method,’ says Stef. For example, he changes the percentage of whole bunch and the length of maceration depending on the vintage. ‘I’m still learning every year. I’m not trying to make a consistent wine; I’m just trying to express the vintage.’ He uses sulfites and doesn’t believe in zero sulfite approaches. ‘I put in a little bit when needed.’ Still, his levels are very low, between 8 and 32 mg/litre total after bottling. 

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