2022 was a beautiful harvest for Giuseppe, with ideal climatic conditions, but a challenging year nonetheless as he doubled production to around 14,000 bottles (still well within the artisanal/grower category.) That included adding on the ‘Bianco sul Gesso’ cuvee, albeit in teeny tiny numbers. Here in the west of Sicily, where the soil is barren and full of limestone, the Sicilian white wine varieties Cataratto, Inzolia, and Zibibbo (Moscato d’Alexandria) grow extremely well. The vines for this wine were grafted in situ in Contrada Passofonduto, the winery’s flagship vineyard, which has a perfect orientation and is cared for by Giuseppe with particular dedication and effort. The climate and chalky, gypsum-rich soils give the grapes strength, but also coolness and acidity –– in particular bringing out salty and elegant notes on the palate, creating more powerful and distinctly identified wines compared to his ‘Solfare’ Bianco. Grapes are destemmed and directly pressed very gently so that no bitter substances get into the wine; the juice then ferments and ages in tonneaux. The result is a wine reminiscent of tropical fruits without being too perfumed, a sea breeze full of salty air and freshly mown grass. White grapefruit, candied pineapple, and peach skin bitters wrap around a rocky, mineral core. This is Giuseppe's premium white wine, full of depth, spice, and a lot of passion. Only 5 cases imported to California.
The Passofonduto property is located north of Agrigento, around 25 kilometers from the southern coast of central Sicily, right on the edge of the province of Caltanisetta. This is a landscape of steep outcrops that was once a rich source of salt and sulfur, and though the mines are now closed, the richness of these minerals is evident in the soils all around, making it a very unique area to cultivate vines. It is here that in 2015 Giuseppe Cipolla began planting vines on a plot of land that his family cultivated mainly for other crops like grains, olives, fruits and legumes. Initially working with two other plots of grapes that were already established in nearby communes, he began the search for his ideal expression of terroir through wine in this oft-overlooked corner of Sicily. Giuseppe has planted Nero d’Avola and Nerello Mascalese for his reds; Grillo, Zibbibo, and Catarratto for whites. The work is hard, but a labor of love and quality for Giuseppe, who has been reconstructing old stone terraces on the property by hand for future plantings.