Images are shown for illustration purposes, vintage may vary.
Donnafugata
ANTHÌLIA BIANCO (White Wine)
Sicily, Italy
91 points - James Suckling
Donnafugata is acclaimed for producing great wines with unique personalities, focusing on native Sicilian grape varietals and innovative, sustainable winemaking practices. Donnafugata pays homage to the strength and power of women through the names of the wines and the label artwork.
Donnafugata Anthìlia is a white wine blend of primarily Lucido (Catarratto), one of the oldest grape varietals of Sicily. Anthìlia has a yellow straw color. The nose offers a fresh and fragrant bouquet with notes of white pulp fruit (peach) combined with hints of wildflowers. In the mouth we find the evident fruity note, refreshed by a pleasant sapidity. The finish has a good persistence. Perfect when paired with lightly smoked fish, crustaceans, anchovies, first courses, tuna or Caesar salad and spring rolls.
Donnafugata was founded in 1983 by experienced winegrowing couple Giacomo and Gabriella Rallo. Their vision was to create a contemporary winegrowing operation based around three sites in western Sicily and to produce a range of international and indigenous variety wines to showcase the potential of Sicily. The name Donnafugata is from the phrase “donna in fuga” or "fleeing woman", referring to the novel of "Il Gattopardo" by Tomasi di Lampedusa and the story of a queen who found refuge in the part of Sicily where the company’s vineyards are located today. The Donnafugata logo is inspired by this story, with the image of a woman’s head with windblown hair. Donnafugata labels and wine names are works of art created or inspired by Gabriella Rallo and pay homage to art and literature.
The estate is comprised of an historic family cellar in Marsala that dates back to 1851, a 667-acre estate at Contessa Entellina planted to a diverse range of grapes, and a third cellar on the volcanic island of Pantelleria, where Donnafugata cultivates 168 acres of Zibibbo vineyards. State-of-the-art, sustainable viticulture techniques are used at all three estates. The winery was one of the first wineries in Italy to produce all of its electricity from solar energy. In 2015 the island of Pantelleria was given UNESCO certification recognizing its unique vine training method.