Sinfonia di Bianco IGP Terre Siciliane, Alessandro Viola 2020

The Viola family has always had a strong bond with their terroir, indigenous grapes and wine. Alessandro and Aldo's father was a winegrower and produced some wine for domestic consumption. Alessandro graduated in oenology and viticulture, and gained experience around the world before deciding to come back home and solely focus on the family’s land. The visceral love for his Sicilian roots makes him a fervent advocate for native varieties and catarratto in particular. This sensitive grape is especially well-suited to that corner of Sicily and it beautifully conveys a sense of place when put in the right hands.

Alessandro works in total 12ha split between Mount Bonifato (at 600-700 altitude) and inland valley scattered around Santa Ninfa and Pietrarenosa (at 250m altitude). Extremely respectful of his land he simply mows with disks in between rows and ploughs by hand around the vines – usually once or twice per season. Winter cover crops of fava and clover are planted for nitrogen fixing, soil texture and microbial life.

As per Note di Bianco the grillo grapes come from vineyards around Santa Ninfa and Pietrarenosa – this is a selection of the most qualitative plots harvested a few days later for extra ripeness. The grapes stay on their skins for three days without extraction before being pressed, the wine ages in old chestnut botti, bottling with low SO2. Intense, textural and aromatic it displays refreshing and food-friendly bitters (a perfect match with couscous alla Trapanese!), and showcases how versatile grillo can be.

 Producer Alessandro Viola

Origin Alcamo, Trapani, Sicily, Italy

Grapes 100% Grillo

Vintage 2020

Alcohol 12.5% ABV

Style Medium body macerated white

Bottle size 750ml 

Winemaking Manual harvested, macerated on skins for 3 days inside the press, fermented with indigenous yeast and aged in botti.  Unfiltred and unfined. Little SO2 added at bottling

Notes  Natural, Organic