In 1990, without overturning centuries of tradition, but rather by focusing once again on the quintessential native grape variety, Grillo, Marco began production of his first white table wine. An austere variety, until then unknown and used only for the production of Marsala.
Western Sicily, Contrada Samperi
13% vol.
1991
Over 25 years
Calcareous, medium-textured, tending towards sandy, flat.
Training system: Guyot-trained espalier, 3,500 vines per hectare.
Last week of August.
Rigorous manual selection of the clusters, soft pressing, obtaining a must that will settle naturally at cold temperatures for 48 hours. The clarified part begins fermentation with indigenous yeasts at a controlled temperature, initially in steel tanks and then in French oak barrels to preserve the primary aromas and enhance the bouquet during the aging period.
12 months in French oak barrels of various sizes in the presence of suspended yeasts (bâtonnage technique) until maturity. It ages well in the bottle.
Grappoli del Grillo was born in 1990 from a specific need: to restore identity to a grape variety that, until then, was used almost exclusively as a base for Marsala.
Marco De Bartoli chose to vinify it as a monovarietal, treating it as a great white table wine, capable of evolving over time and fully expressing the character of the territory.
The label was also born from this same intention. Marco himself wanted the Grillo grape to be shown for what it is, in its most concrete form. The artist Carlo Lauricella translated this idea into a composition reminiscent of ampelographic illustrations: a sequence of clusters, observed and repeated, as if to construct a visual study of the variety. A direct gesture: to show what Grillo looks like, to give it back its recognizability.
The name insists on this same direction, bringing attention back to the cluster, to the starting point. The vinification in steel and the work on the fine lees follow a coherent logic, leaving room for the variety without superstructures. Grappoli del Grillo is thus one of the wines that redefined the role of this variety, transforming it from a functional element into a protagonist.
The estate is located in Contrada Samperi, twelve kilometers from Marsala, on calcareous and sandy soil that the Mediterranean wind sweeps across unimpeded. The baglio dates back to the late nineteenth century — thick walls, filtered light, the scent of aged wood already noticeable from outside. Around it, Grillo vineyards cultivated in the alberello system, as is the tradition of this land.
12 HA
medium-textured sandy-limestone, flat
alberello and Guyot-trained vertical shoot positioning; 3,500 vines per hectare.
manual in small crates, during the final weeks of September.
Manual selection of grapes, soft pressing, natural sedimentation, traditional fermentation in oak and chestnut barrels at room temperature.
Aging in oak and chestnut barrels with the addition of 5% younger wine each year, using the traditional perpetual method.
8.600
