An Aitken's favourite!

Cortese Vanedda Bianco Organico is intensely golden in colour. Prominent notes of coconut and tropical fruit with an undercurrent of gentle spices. Richly textured with well-integrated acidity and a long length. A short fermentation on the skins gives a full body and texture that we can't get enough of!

About the 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.

Vineyard and Winery

To Produce Vanedda Bianco Organico, the people at Agricola Cortese were inspired by ancient Sicilian traditions, resulting in a unique, highly individual wine. They took two classic Sicilian grape varieties, Cataratto and Grillo, which are fermented on their skins, just as wine was made in years gone by.

The grapes are carefully hand-harvested into small baskets and only the best
quality are selected to make Vanedda. The baskets of grapes are refrigerated
at 10°C for around 24 hours.

After this is completed the wine is carefully de-stemmed and fermented on the skins for at least 2 days, after which it is separated from the skins and the fermentation is finished in 30hl oak botti. Following fermentation, the wine stays on the lees for at least 7 months and remains in bottle for a further 6 months before being released on to the market.

Vanedda has a very limited production – in 2016 they produced 3200 bottles
and in 2017 around 10,000.