The name.
Zefira.
Zéfiro — in ancient Greek — is the west wind. The gentle breath that arrives from the west, that dries, refreshes, carries with it the quality of open air.
It’s the wind that never stops at Curbici, flowing through Floriana and Marta’s rows, settling into the wine: that lightness in every sip that you can’t quite explain, until you remember where it comes from.
Zefira is the feminine form. Like the wine.
Like the vignaole who grow it.
We searched a long time for this name.
We said many names out loud, let them roll in our mouths, waited to see how they felt. Zefira was among them — and when we said it, it was clear: it couldn’t be any other way.
The vineyard
Floriana Scardino and Marta Nicolino tend this vineyard as you would care for something precious: unhurriedly. Nerello Mascalese — a grape native to Etna that found an unexpected home in Camporeale — grows at 500 metres above sea level, on a clay-loam soil that works in silence.
It retains just the right moisture, lets the roots find depth, brings to the wine that mineral tension that isn’t built in the winery — it’s allowed to emerge, or it isn’t there.
C.da Curbici: an ancient name. And the wine born here has something precise, something recognisable.
That finesse that terroir imprints without anyone asking it to.
How it’s made
Eight days of maceration. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation. Four months in steel, on its own yeasts. Nothing else.
Nicola Colombo, our oenologist, accompanied Zefira with the discretion owed to something already complete. His work was fundamental above all in the listening: understanding when not to intervene, what not to add, where to stop.
The result is a pale ruby red, almost transparent in the light. It smells of violet, cherry, small freshly picked red fruits. The tannin is silky — that often overused word that here, for once, says exactly the truth.
The finish is long and light, like a breeze you don’t want to end.
Serve cool, around 12°C. It’s a wine that challenges a few prejudices about reds: it has the drinkability of a white and the depth of a CRU.
When it arrives
The labels are being printed. Bottles will be available by the end of the month — and when they arrive, we’ll let you know right away.
If you’d like to be among the first to hear, you can contact us at commerciale@valdibella.com. We’ll notify you as soon as Zefira is available.
Get ready to meet her.
Valdibella — Organic farming cooperative, Camporeale (PA)
