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2019 Terre Siciliane Bianco “Nsajàr”
Riofavara

Riofavara Vineyards
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!
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2019 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 40% Cutrera, 30% Rucignola, 30% Recunu |
Country: | Italy |
Region: | Sicily |
Producer: | Riofavara |
Winemaker: | Massimo Padova |
Vineyard: | Planted in 2017, .6 ha |
Soil: | Clay, limestone |
Aging: | Aged on fine lees in stainless and neutral oak barrels for six months before bottling |
Farming: | Organic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 13% |
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About The Producer
Riofavara
About The Region
Sicily
Italy’s southernmost region and the largest island in the Mediterranean, Sicily has no shortage of sunshine to grow high-quality grapes on a yearly basis. It also does not lack a history of winemaking: since the Greeks settled here almost three millennia ago, the vine has played a major role in the island’s agricultural makeup. Production of cheap bulk wine for blending dominated much of its recent history until now, as we are witnessing a quality revolution that puts forth its great diversity and quality of terroirs, indigenous grape varieties, and local production methods.
While Sicily’s historical reputation is for sweet wines—Marsala and the Muscats of Pantelleria stand out—a number of dry whites and reds are enjoying the spotlight today. The cooler, high-altitude slopes of Etna, with its ashy volcanic soils, have seen an explosion of activity from producers both local and foreign; both whites (primarily from Carricante) and reds (Nerello Mascalese) here are capable of uncommon freshness and finesse. Other noteworthy wine regions are Eloro, where Nero d’Avola gives its best; Noto, an oasis of dry and sweet Moscatos; Vittoria, with its supple, perfumed Frappatos; and Salina, where Malvasia makes thirst-quenching dry whites and deliciously succulent passiti.
Countless foreign invasions over the centuries have given Sicilian architecture and cuisine a unique exotic twist, making it a fascinating destination for gourmands as well as wine importers. With a wealth of dedicated artisans proud to show off the riches of their land, you can bet there are many exciting things still to come from this incredible island.
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Where the newsletter started

Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch