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Italian Wine: Donnafugata and the unique grapes of Sicily
The Donnafugata winery holds 160 years of experience with owner Giacomo Rallo combining his experience with his wife Gabriella and her experience in the industry. The two combined, along with their two children Jose' and Antonio, are one of the limited wineries in Sicily that produce estate grown wines. Only 2% of wines produced in Sicily come from estate grown wineries according to Silvio. The rest are produced by cooperatives.
Donnafugata, translating to “woman in flight”, references Queen Maria Carolina, whom during the time of Napoleon's arrival in Italy, fled the area and resided in the place where the winery stands today. There are 3 areas where Donnafugata grows its grapes including Pantelleria, Marsala and Contessa Entellina all located in southern Italy in Sicily. Marsala and Contessa Entellina are located in western Sicily where Pantelleria is an island off the coast of western Sicily. The Marsala sight is the main establishment where all the wines are aged and bottled.
Weather
Sicily's weather consists of considerable differences in day and night temperatures that allow them to produce aromatic and mature grapes in their vineyards. The vines, as shown here, in Pantelleria are low, broad bushes so that the grapes don't get fried by the sun and have a canopy of leaves to protect them.
Wines of Donnafugata
One of the eye catching things about Donnafugata wines are their labels, which were created by Gabriella. The woman on the label is actually a self-potrait of Gabriella when she was in her 20's.