Gulfi Nero d’Avola Nerosanloré: 2001-2015
BY IAN D'AGATA |
The Gulfi Estate
Gulfi was founded by Raffaele Catania (grandfather of the current owners, siblings Matteo and Raffaele Catania) when he made his first wine, the Nero d’Avola Nerojbleo. Although the family shares its name with Sicily’s second-biggest city - essentially the epicenter of the Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio and Etna production zones - the estate takes its name from the town of Chiaramonte Gulfi, close to where the winery is located.
Gulfi co-owner, Matteo Catania amidst his vines
The
Gulfi estate lies in the southeastern tip of Sicily and owns vineyards in Pachino,
which is world-famous for its tomatoes but is also a true grand cru for Nero
d’Avola. Originally, Gulfi had just three hectares of vineyards, but it grew
steadily under the stewardship of Raffaele’s son Vito. Unfortunately, Vito is
no longer living, but his two children have continued his work, and have propelled
Gulfi into the upper echelon of Italy’s finest wine estates.
Gulfi was the first winery in Sicily to believe in single-contrada Nero d’Avolas. Today, Gulfi makes four such wines that highlight the extraordinary diversity of these sites, all of them so well-suited to showing the potential of Sicily’s indigenous Nero d’Avola. This vertical spanned a representative selection of the Nerosanloré - arguably the most elegant of the wines.
