An intriguing blend of Grillo, Grecanico, Inzolia, Moscato Giallo, and three local heirloom varieties (see below), the Marzaiolo is a brilliant white bursting with sunshine, sea spray, and fresh-squeezed Sicilian lemons. You’ll have trouble finding a better bottle to pour alongside raw, steamed, or fried seafood, but a bowl of marinated olives and a colorful sunset ain’t too shabby, either.

The Riofavara estate, located on the southern tip of Sicily, is just a few minutes down the road from the town that gave Nero d’Avola, the seminal grape of Sicily, its name. The Padova family has tended vines here for almost a century, but only in 1993 did they begin bottling their own wine. Massimo Padova became among the first to pioneer quality in a region where bulk production was the norm, lowering yields and focusing on organic farming to get the most of this chalky, sunbaked land a stone’s throw away from the Mediterranean.
    “Nsajàr” means “to try something new” in the local dialect, and this wine is the epitome of creating something new from something old. Massimo decided to resurrect three nearly extinct Sicilian white grape varieties, Cutrera, Rucignola, and Recunu, which he felt would be well suited to the warming climate thanks to their high natural acidity. The 2019 represents the first vintage of this exciting project and the results are more than promising. It is a bracingly fresh bianco, offering notes of citrus zest, crushed stone, and pine resin, that finishes on an intensely chalky note from its limestone terroir. Massimo believes this to be the only bottling of these three grapes in the world!

Ispica is Nero d’Avola country—the grape’s true homeland, where it finds its greatest expression soaking up the sun in chalky white soils. Sciavè is Massimo’s deepest and chewiest rosso, tamed only by age and yet still boasting a bold, almost sanguine bouquet of black fruit, licorice, and black olive. Massimo’s eldest daughter, Clementina, proposes a less obvious pairing to the delicious roasts and braises that inevitably come to mind: “It’s always served with meat, but there is a saline element that makes it perfect for the Sicilian specialty pasta con finocchietto.” Wild fennel fronds, anchovies, pine nuts, and raisins star in this dish that is sure to make her family’s sumptuous Nero shine.

Made from the local Antica Verdese variety, this aromatic golden nectar has a buttery richness and just the right amount of spicy kick.