It rarely happens, in a winery, that a wine is born twice.
The first time is when the grape touches the stone for the first time, when the roots find their depth in the clayey soil of a district that not everyone knows — Curbici, a name that sounds ancient, almost forgotten, like all the things worth rediscovering.
The second time is now.
A vineyard, two women winemakers.
Floriana Scardino and Marta Nicolino cultivate Nerello Mascalese the way you’d guard something precious: calmly, with respect, without forcing anything. The vineyard sits at 500 metres above sea level. The soil is clayey and silty. The wind comes from the west — it never stops, and you can taste it in the wine: there’s something airy in every sip, a lightness you wouldn’t expect from a red.
How we do it
Eight days of maceration. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation. Four months in steel, on its own lees. Nothing more. Behind this simplicity lies the work of Nicola Colombo, our winemaker. Months of listening to this vineyard taught him something hard to put into words: that in the cellar, true skill is measured by what you choose not to add.
The result is a wine of pale ruby, almost transparent, with aromas of violet and cherry and small red berries just picked. The tannin is silky — that overused word that here, for once, tells the exact truth. The finish is long and light, like a breeze you don’t want to end.
A new name
This wine used to be called Àgape. A beautiful name — universal love, freely given gift, grace. But it was the name of another season.
Today the moment has come for a new identity. We searched a long time for the right words. We weighed many of them, said them out loud, rolled them around in our mouths the way you do with a wine before swallowing. Some were too learned. Others too soft. One — only one — made everyone say, almost in unison: yes, that’s the one.
A feminine name, like the wine. A name that carries the western wind with it, the freshness, the sense of something arriving from the horizon to caress you. A name that rings true.
Coming soon.
We’ll introduce it to you soon.
For now, just know this: there is a Nerello Mascalese from Camporeale waiting to tell you its name. And when you hear it, you’ll know at once that it could never have been anything else.
Get ready to meet it.
Valdibella — Cooperativa agricola biologica, Camporeale (PA)
