Rosato

A little dollop of Sicilian sunshine in magenta pink liquid form this month! Filippo's highly sought-after rosato is dominated by Frappato, its pulpy raspberry/cranberry fruit tempered with a a salt-tinged streak of Nero d'Avola spice, and then elevated even further with some effusive and wafting tropical florals thanks to a liberal dash of Zibibbo. The fruit here hails partially from Filippo’s own estate vineyards and partially from a friend’s property in nearby Vittoria. Direct press, aged in concrete for eight months and bottled with no additions or subtractions, this is a pink wine that could just as easily be placed in the ‘light red’ bucket depending on the occasion and food on your table.

Lamoresca

Filippo Rizzo’s farm can be found hidden amongst the rolling hills of Sicily’s rugged interior, the only reference point being the peak of Etna peering over the hills, somewhere in the distance.

Filippo grew up in the closest village to here, San Michele di Ganzaria and having run restaurants overseas, in 2000 he returned home to purchase a small piece of land home to an ancient variety of olives that gives the farm its name. Today he farms a total of five hectares of vines, planted amongst twenty five hectares of olive groves, prickly pear, fruit and almond trees over four hundred metres above sea level. The elevation results in large differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures–a real boon in this typically Mediterranean climate.

The vineyards are planted over clay, sandstone and silex and have been worked organically from the outset. This is a farm where biodiversity is truly cherished and in recent years, Filippo has begun replanting forests of carob, eucalyptus and ginesta next to the vines. Believing that good wine is made in the vines, in the cantina Filippo’s work is decidedly unfussy, resulting in pure, rustic and nourishing wines which speak loudly of Sicily.