Casematte Peloro Rosso Terre Siciliane IGP '20

Gianfranco Sabbatino, originally from Messina, Sicily, founded the Casematte winery in 2008, having left his career as an accountant. His partner, Andrea Barzagli, is a former football player from Florence and a wine and winemaking enthusiast as well. The winery is located on the northern hills of the city of Messina, in Faro Superiore, which is northeast of Etna, at the tip of Cape Peloro. Here, the indigenous variety Nerello Mascalese is the featured grape.

The vineyard is about 11 hectares in size, and the varieties Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Nocera, and Nero d’Avola varieties are grown organically. The terraced vineyards are located about 500 meters above sea level, exposed to the north and overlooking the sea. The winds from the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian Seas, crossing in the Strait of Messina, create a microclimate with a range between day and nighttime temperatures that is ideal for grape ripening.

The 2020 “Peloro” Rosso is a blend of 70% Nerello Mascalese and 30% Nocera, another native Italian variety, which contributes body, deep color, and acidity to the blend. The wine is made in stainless steel tanks and aged briefly in tonneau (a large wood barrel), for only about three months, then aged in bottle for three months.