Who: Gianfranco Daino
Enologist: Salvo Foti (cool reads)
Farm: 5 hecares
Where: Caltagirone , Catania • Sicily - Italy
Founded:
Land: 400 meters above sea level
Grapes: Nero d’Avola - Frappato - Alicante
Appellation:
Viticulture: organic / biodynamic
Training system: bush
Annual Production
The wines of eastern Sicily have really come alive in recent years thanks to people like Gianfranco Daino with the guidance of Salvo Foti. Drawing upon ancient farming techniques of the region, all of the nero d’avola, frappato, and alicante vines of Daino’s are trained as bushes; the air circulates around the vines and allows for the growth of natural ecosystems in the vineyards. His vineyard borders with the Bosco di Santo Pietro woods about 20 km from Caltagirone, in the south-eastern area of Sicily. His vineyard and farmhouse are magically settled within the woods, home to many wild animals - fox, rabbit, wild cats, and an abundance of birds. The forest boast of old holly oak trees mixed with an abundance of Quercus Suber Oaks, better known as cork trees. These cork trees, are the same trees that provide him corks for his bottles and also give the name of his red wine.
While he does not have his own cellar, he is able to make his wines at a local estate. Gianfranco Daino is an award-winning winemaker committed to organic and biodynamic practices; the wine represents the care and passion of his hard work. As part of the I Vigneri consortium, where they take their fieldwork to a new level of care, the wine is made in the vineyard, not in a lab; true wine rich with sun and soil.
These are wines that epitomize the south-easterly area of Sicily. They have great depth, elegance and soul. They express what words can not, bringing sunshine to your heart and a feeling of needing to be there, in Caltagirone with Gianfranco sharing a meal, some moments in time, and definitely a few glasses of his wines by the vineyard.
‘SUBER’ - Terre Siciliane IGT
GRAPE VARIETIES: 50% Nero d'Avola, 30% Alicante and 20% Nero Capitano (Frappato)
TYPE OF SOIL: Mediterranean red sands
TYPE OF CULTIVATION: bush-trained
PLANT DENSITY: 9,000 vines per hectare
AGE OF VINEYARD:15+ years
VINIFICATION METHOD: maceration and destemming (around 80%), pressing
MACERATION: 14 days in stainless steel fermentation tanks
AGING (type of barrels): in 225 and 500 litre used and semi-used barrels for around 12 months
BOTTLING: around 15 months after harvest with at least 6 months aging in the bottle.
QUANTITY PRODUCED (in bottles): 7000 75 cl bottles + 100 150cl Magnum bottles
ALCOHOL CONTENT: 13,5%
Cultivation of three Sicilian indigenous grape varieties - Nero d'Avola, Frappato, Alicante - has given rise to Suber, a wine with an intense red color and distinctive, complex, highly aromatic taste. A combination of the three varieties gives the wine body and character. The contribution of the Nero d'Avola is an aroma of red fruits, such as blackberries or mulberries; the Frappato adds an aftertaste of yellow peach; the Alicante gives Suber alcoholic strength and enriches it with a hint of fragrant spices.
‘ILEX’ Terre Siciliane IGT
GRAPE VARIETIES: 100% Nero d'Avola, grown as a non-irrigated sapling
TYPE OF SOIL: Mediterranean red sands
TYPE OF CULTIVATION: Bush-trained
PLANT DENSITY: 9,000 vines per hectare
AGE OF VINEYARD: 13 years
RIPENING AND HARVESTING: September, manual harvesting
VINIFICATION METHOD: Destemming and pressing
MACERATION: 6 days in stainless steel fermentation tanks
AGING (type of barrels): Steel
Ilex is their red IGT from only Nero d’Avola grapes. It displays an intense ruby red color with purple hues; strong and persistent in flavors, with intense notes of red fruits and vanilla. On the palate, the wine shows a refined and harmonic taste, elegant and delicate, but also persistent and supported with good and pleasant acidity. Ilex is well paired with red meats and cheese.
‘CISTUS’ Rosato Terre Siciliane IGT
GRAPE VARIETIES: Nero d'Avola
PRODUCTION AREA: Caltagirone (Catania) Italy
ALTITUDE: 325 metres a.s.l.
TYPE OF CULTIVATION: Bush-trained
PLANT DENSITY: 9,000 vines per hectare
AGE OF VINEYARD: 13 years
RIPENING AND HARVESTING: September, manual harvesting
VINIFICATION METHOD: Pounding and pushing traditional Sicilian method, the grapes are crushed and the must goes into steel, the only contact with the skins is during the pressure
AGING (type of barrels): Steel
Breathtakingly beautiful!
Awarded as one of Best 100 Italian Rosé Wines, Cistus has a strong Sicilian identity. It is vinified as a white wine from the red grapes of Nero d’Avola. Characterized by pleasant and delicate scents of wild strawberries, the wine is distinguished for a dry palate, balanced, intensively sapid, with an enjoyable acidity.
Cistus is a product of a process starting from an early September harvest concluding in the next spring when the wine is bottled and it’s released in the market.
The result is a rose wine with a decisive character rich in aromas; with a suggested service temperature between 12 to 14 °C, it is perfect when paired with fish dishes bringing its delicate scents. A wine that can age!
