The “look” for Cortese Nostru Carricante is based on symbols of culture and life, taking the authentic Sicilian Majolica ceramics as our vision. The characters predicted on the bottles are truly original and impossible to forget. Lively and cheerful, these styles will stand out and capture the imagination of wine lovers.

We absolutely love this wine! Cortese Nostru Carricante has aromas and flavours of peach, apple, citrus fruits and blossom. The palate has excellent acidity, minerality, as well as refreshing acidity and balance, and these characteristics give Carricante a particularly long finish.

About the region and producer

While Stefano and Marina Girelli are from Trento in the extreme north of Italy, it is the island of Sicily in the country’s deep south that has captured their hearts. Stefano realised many years ago that Sicily was generally underrated as quality wine producing region and that the potential for making premium wines was tremendous. Crucially, he also recognised that conditions for producing organic, low-intervention wines are perfect on the Sicilian island.

The previous owner of Azienda Agricola Cortese was the formidable matriarch lady Giovanna Cortese. It was some years ago that Giovanna first decided to sell the estate after she realised that she had reached an age when she couldn’t run it by herself, and it had become clear that no one in the family was going to take over.  A true Sicilian, Giovanna is a tough negotiator and it took six years to reach a final agreement on the purchase of Cortese in 2016.

With a total vineyard area of 114,290 ha/282,296 acres, Sicily produced 6 million hl of wine in 2013, making it Italy’s second most important wine region after the Veneto.  In terms of climate and geology Sicily is often, rightfully, considered a continent itself, running counter to its perceived image as a hot, arid island. Climates range from distinctly alpine on Mount Etna, where vineyards up to 1,000 m/3,280 ft elevation are no exception, to the subtropical on the island of pantelleria, which is closer to Tunisia than it is to the province of Trapani to which it administratively belongs. The island’s centre can be hot and dry, although at higher elevations there can be favourable diurnal temperature variability, while many regions are close enough to the coast to benefit from such constant winds that fungal diseases are a rarity except in the wettest of years.  (source - jancisrobinson.com)

Vineyard and Wine Making

The name Carricante comes from the Sicilian dialect “u carricanti” which means “heavily laden” and refers to the high volume of grapes that this vine produces unless strictly controlled. Carricante is mostly grown on the slopes of Mount Etna, where it has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years. It flourishes particularly well at altitude, and is now being grown in other high areas too. Carricante expresses a wonderful acidity and distinct minerality.

Cortese Nostru Carricante is cultivated at about 400 metres above sea level. As it is so prolific, it is essential to focus a lot of attention on training the vines – which is done using the Guillot method. Strict pruning is also absolutely key in order to limit production. Grapes are hand-picked, then de-stemmed and very softly pressed with a pneumatic press. The must is decanted at low temperature for about 48 hours before staring the fermentation, which is carried out at 17-19C° for about 20 days. When the fermentation is finished the wine is racked and kept on fine lees for at least 5 months, with frequent Bâtonnage.