Producer
The Rallo family has made wine in Marsala since 1851 and their ancient cellars tunnel beneath the city. They were one of the first families to begin making high quality table wine when sales of traditional Marsala started to decline, launching the Donnafugata label in 1983 and championing the potential of the region’s native varieties. Today, Donnafugata has four estates in Sicily: a modern winery and 283 hectares at Contessa Entellina in the hills east of Marsala; 36 hectares in Vittoria to the south eastern point of the island; 68 hectares on the island of Pantelleria; and 18 hectares on the slopes of Etna. Donnafugata means ‘fleeing woman’ and is a reference to Queen Maria Carolina, who escaped the court of Naples in the early 19th century with her husband, Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, when Napoleon’s troops arrived. The couple took refuge in Sicily at the Santa Margherita Belice palace, also the favourite residence of celebrated writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and depicted on the ‘Mille e una Notte’ label.
Vineyards
The vineyards for this wine are located in the territory of Acate, in the region of Vittoria, south east of Sicily. Vineyards sit at an altitude of 120-150 metres above sea level on gently sloping terrains. Soils are sandy with a substratum of calcareous tuff and clay with a pH of 7.7, and limestone present at 21%. Vines are Vertical Shoot Position trained with spurred cordon pruning, leaving six to 10 buds per plant. The planting density is 4,000-4,500 plants per hectare with yields of 70-80 quintals per hectare.
Vinification
Once at the winery, the grapes were fermented in stainless-steel tanks with maceration on the skins lasting about 10 days at a temperature of 25°- 28°C. After malolactic fermentation, ageing took place in stainless-steel tanks for eight months and then the wine was aged in bottle for at least seven months.