This winery is an hommage to improvisation. In love with the secluded Sicilian backcountry of Agrigento that seems like the landscape of Mars, Giuseppe is dedicating his life to ancient growing and winemaking practices, and combines them with an unconventional mindset. He nurtures his vineyards with unwavering hard work. His minimal intervention approach creates wines that are grounded in Sicily‘s heritage, yet cosmopolitan:
The Sicilian backcountry at first seems like another planet. But then, it takes you to dry land, that is still full of life and vitality.
Think of a delicate and mysterious wine with slight salinity and a character that speaks directly to your soul. Then think of remote, hot and dry mountains, vines planted without wires or trellises, olives and vegetables growing between them. Constant winds caressing their leaves.
After giving up his office job, Giuseppe was longing for being outside and creating something with his hands that speaks to his love for art, beauty and simplicity. His determination is to bring together the heritage of his homeland and pure products of nature.
Endless research online, the help of a friend, and years of self-teaching and experimenting followed. Now, eleven years in, Passofonduto has become a magical place, home of his winery and the majority of his vineyards.
Passofonduto is part of the Sicilian “Serie Gessoso-Solfifera”: Dating back to approximately five to six million years ago, the area’s unique calcarous and chalky soils with deposits of gypsum, sulfurous limestone and rocksalt provide ground for the vines.
The vast presence of minerals diluted in the soil give the wines a distinct, slightly salty character.
Giuseppe trains his vines along a wooden stick that is placed vertically into the ground for supporting the plant and providing it something to climb onto, as lianas love to do.
This training system, „Alberello“ (derived from ancient Greek viticultural techniques, rarely found across the world now) gives the vines strength, and very concentrated, delicate aromas to the berries.
At the same time, the vines are planted with little distance to one another to force their roots to go deep in search for water. The soil can be extremely dry and might even crack – which provides a fascinating habitat for the vines that seem to thrive in these tough conditions. They appear to be incredibly healthy, moving in the hot winds and defying the sparse surrounding.
Giuseppe’s wines are an interpretation of the soil, the climate, the fruit he grows with endless hours of vineyard work, unconventional winemaking techniques and his delicate taste, which he all brings in tune.
His blends are grounded in the original blends of Sicily that are based on the idea of balancing fruit, ripeness and acidity. Nero d’Avola is finding its balance with a hint of Inzolia, and some structuring Nerello Mascalese. Solfare, the white blend of Grillo, Catarratto, Inzolia and Zibbibo is an ode to Silicy’s winemaking in itself.
Skin contact for destemmed grapes just after harvesting grapes provides the wine-to-be with oxygen and the opportunity to release aromas, and develop stability for their aging potential.
His latest red release he named after himself is a buzz of Nero d’Avola and Catarratto.
All of them are an expression of his idea to make wines that he loves himself, cared for with passion and endless hours of work. Giuseppe lets his heart speak while he makes them and sees his work as an expression of his soul and his ideas.
When I first tasted one of his wines, I was left puzzled. I was expecting a big, high in alcohol and somehow coarse wine from a region that is known for its heat and drought, and being from an island, also for its traditionality. Yet, I was tasting an elegant, light, and lovely wine that reminded me of Gamay, with a light strawberry bouquet but no sweetness. It had a beautiful balance and humbleness. This was Occhio di Sale. I remember how I tried to memorize the label and the name-for if I ever went to Sicily, to check it out again. It stuck with me. And when I later had one foot on the ground in Passofonduto, the azienda, I fell for it.
The wines have beautifully sounding names: Le Robbe, Solfare, Occhio di sale.
They are all hommages to the Sicilian homeland and its beautiful unique traits. They are all fermented in small vessels on the skins for minimum one night, up to three. They are all made with countless hours spent in the vineyard and loads of dedication in the cellar, and the idea to make wines like jazz songs: an interpretation of what‘s there to get to something vibrant and groovy that stays in your mind for long.