Nino Barraco – The Sea in a Glass
Few people have reshaped the identity of Marsala’s wines quite like Nino Barraco.
Since taking over his family’s vineyards in 2004, Nino has charted his own course, working organically, championing Sicily’s native grapes, and crafting single-vineyard bottlings that highlight the true potential of his corner of Western Sicily.
Over the years, he has pieced together twenty hectares of vines scattered along the coastline north and south of Marsala. Tireless in his work, he is often seen navigating the dunes in his battered Fiat, on his way to check the vines. Each parcel is farmed with respect for nature and an unwavering commitment to organics.
In the cellar, Nino’s philosophy is one of gentle stewardship, allowing the wine to move from vineyard to glass with as little intervention as possible. While most of his cuvées are bottled the year after harvest, in his parents’ garage he is also reviving the traditions of Marsala itself.
The results are wines with a striking sense of place. Bright, saline, and sun-soaked, they capture, in Nino’s own words, “the sea in a glass.”
From Nino’s youngest vines planted over sand, this is mostly Grillo, with a little Catarratto and a touch of Zibibbo in the mix. The grapes were fermented on the skins for just a day, before being pressed off to vats for a short rest. The result is a pretty and perfumed wine that takes you straight to the Sicilian seaside with its citrus, wildflowers, sea salt and brine. A wonderful aperitif that has a natural affinity with anything from the sea.
Grillo from a vineyard which sits on a sand dune, right by the Mediterranean. The grapes are picked around a month earlier than his regular Grillo to retain freshness, acidity and verve. They spend just a day on skins, followed by a short élevage in concrete. It was bottled the following April with no additions and is a little more open and fruit forward than usual, with delicate flavours of sea salt and lemon zest. Alongside some crudo, it makes for a remarkable apéritif.
From a young parcel of Zibibbo that grows on sandy soils. These grapes are fermented on skins for a couple of days before being pressed off to concrete. The aromas here take you straight to the island, heady with herbs, citrus and spice. It’s whistle clean on the palate, with lime-like acidity bringing serious refreshment. A complex wine that pairs so well with the region’s emblematic dish, pasta con le sarde.
A beautiful expression of Catarratto from a forty year old vineyard planted just a few hundred metres from the Mediterranean over black volcanic soils. This spends two days on skins, before being pressed off to concrete. A beautiful shade of gold, this pairs ripe stone fruits with a pronounced smokiness from the land and a lick of salt from the sea. A wine with an incredible sense of place.
From an isolated plot of fifty year old bush vines handed down to him by his father. These are planted over red sand and terra rossa, just a kilometre from the sea. The wine spends two days on the skins before a fermentation in steel and ten months of élevage in concrete vats. This is as old-school as they come, a compact and powerful wine, with a distinctively nutty, saline character.