OUR NATURE
THE ORIGINS OF GRILLO
Gorghi Tondi destined to Grillo grape nearly a half (almost 40%) of its vineyards, partly located within the WWF Nature Reserve Lake Preola and Gorghi Tondi, and partly overlooking the sea, where the high day-night temperature range, the “marine aerosol” action of the sea breeze and the changing climatic conditions are favorable to the excellent quality and the many variations of the wines made with this variety.
Freshness, aromatic intensity, minerality, and sapidity, these are the distinctive traits of the Grillo from Tenuta Gorghi Tondi, the heritage of a unique territory, magically enhanced by ancient and artisanal production wisdom. For Gorghi Tondi, Grillo is the emblematic grape variety of an entire wine production, highly versatile and capable of giving life to elegant and multifaceted wines: from the sparkling version in Brut style of Palmarès, to the still and “fresh” version of Coste a Preola Grillo, to the selection of the ripest vineyard in Kheiré, our cru. From this same variety, Gorghi Tondi also produces two emblematic wines in the oenological panorama of the region: Grillodoro, the unique Sicilian passito wine, obtained from a late harvest of overripe grapes attacked by Botrytis Cinerea, the so-called noble rot, and the wine of tradition, that ancestor of Marsala wine so dear to the local farming tradition passed down from generation to generation, Ziller 47, dedicated to the founding father of Gorghi Tondi, Michele Sala. A white wine, not fortified, in a pre-British style and aged for over 10 years in large, slightly emptied oak barrels, the fruit of the oldest vineyard on the estate.
Five different interpretations of the same, extraordinary grape variety passe-partout for an exciting experience, full of suggestions that translate into the glass the most intense flavors and aromas of authentic Sicily. Grillo is therefore the autochthonous grape of Gorghi Tondi par excellence, so much so that it can be considered the very soul of its production philosophy.
A bit of history
After years of long and passionate research, a few years ago the experts finally found an answer: Grillo is a relatively recent cross between two Sicilian native varieties, Cattarratto and Zibibbo, also know as Muscat of Alexandria.
A white Catarratto seed artificially fertilized with Zibibbo during the 1869 flowering in my Piana dei Peri vineyard near Favara; harvested on August 27th of the same year; sown in a container on March 3rd 1870 and sprouted on the 20th of May.
Thus, reads the diary of Baron Antonino Mendola, agronomist, ampelographer and producer of marsala wine, as well as father, in all respects, of the Grillo variety, who continues:
In 1871, having observed a plant in container no. 105 to be coming up better than all the others with vigorous and colourful leaves, I took a small shoot and in February 1872 I grafted it onto a sturdy rootstock of black Inzolia, in order to hasten the fruiting, and so I had the pleasure of tasting the first bunches of grapes in the fall of 1874.
The history of Grillo is thus intertwined with that of marsala wine, which the Baron tried to make more aromatic. A great success, which benefited the new variety, becoming one of the favorite grapes for the production of the famous Sicilian fortified wine, and remained so for most of the 20th century. However, at the end of the 1900s, the decline of marsala wine led to a drastic reduction in the hectares planted with Grillo. Today, also thanks to some enlightened producers, this noble grape has found the consensus of critics and consumers.
