Gulfi is a winery founded in the homonymous locality of Chiaramonte Gulfi, in the south-western quadrant of the Iblei Mountains, in the province of Ragusa, by Vito Catania, an entrepreneur of Sicilian origins transplanted to Milan who, in 1996, decided to return to his homeland, to take over the wine tradition that his family had developed over three generations.
The winery management has always been inspired by the productive philosophy of Salvo Foti, one of the most authoritative voices of Sicilian enology, whose collaboration has helped to create a virtuous development system that did not take long to have its first effects.
The first great innovation that this duo produced was the mass selection of the vines and their subdivision, in the 70 hectares of property, into different microplots, with the intention of laying the foundations for a viticulture based on the concept of Cru. Alongside this form of zonation, a rarity for Sicilian viticulture of the time, it was decided to practice a kind of viticulture respectful of the system-vineyard, decision that led, as a logical consequence, organic certification. This productive approach was made possible also thanks to the choice of using the cultivation of saplings which, with its botanical characteristics, made it possible to renounce, with less difficulty, the use of invasive chemicals, replaced by manure and inter-row cultivation of legumes, whose green manure naturally enriches the soil with nitrogen.
Among the lands owned by this winery is, at 450 meters above sea level, the Stidda vineyard that allow the production of the “Classico” type of Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG. This is a vineyard planted with Nero d’Avola (70%) and Frappato (30%), cultivated according to traditional, organic dictates, in which relief irrigation is also waived, in case of drought, Against a high density of planting (8500 vines per hectare) the yield on these calcareous-clayey soils is really low, since the vines, cultivated according to the traditional alberello system, yield an average of 600 grams of grapes each.
After a slightly prolonged maturation, the grapes are harvested manually the first days of October, with a strict selection in the plant, and then are sent to the winery for a maceration on the skins of about a week. The alcoholic fermentation, and the malolactic fermentation, are followed by the racking in small barrels (225 and 500 liters) of various steps, to rest about a year. The bottle racking, a few more months of rest in glass, and the wine is ready for marketing.
The 2019 vintage shows an intense ruby color with garnet streaks, and an olfactory range that opens on notes of durone cherry, black cherry syrup, cooked plum and tomato sauce, followed by carob, pot pourri and Mediterranean scrub, with slightly empyraeumatic final echoes. The palate, while remaining pleasantly elegant, is obviously focused on generosity and softness, with a hint of spiciness and round and pulpy tannins: all enriched by the return of the ripe red fruit and the Mediterranean scrub that accompany the sip up to a good length closure.
Rating: 90/100
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