From our Importer: Wine has been made in Salvatore Marino’s family for generations; growing up, his grandfather and father produced bulk wine in a large facility within the town of Pachino. Always a bon vivant, Marino’s love for good food begat a passion for seeking delicious bottles from Sicily and beyond. It also made him dream of starting a project of his own. No stranger to
viticulture, Salvatore knew he could start farming vines from his wife Stefania’s family. But before branching out on his own, he felt the need to learn how to properly run a cellar.

Marino had learned how to make wine with his father, but found those bulk products riddled with defects, namely
brett. So for many years, Salvatore cut his teeth working at huge wineries in California, Puglia and Sicily to further his knowledge of enology.

“I never liked the wines I made at those places. But you can can learn so much, so fast in those environments. The large scale gives you perspective.”

With a decade of big winery experience behind him, Salvatore launched his eponymous estate in 2017. Today he works 15 hectares of land divided into five sectors, all close to each other and the town of Pachino. A firm believer in polyculture, seven of the 15 hectares are planted in vines, with the rest planted in fruit trees, wheat, other cereals, table grapes and much more. Some of the land is from Stefania’s family, some is rented and some Marino has purchased. The soils consist of medium to heavy clay with
limestone, planted in bush-trained vines wrapped up on pickets to avoid damage from the region’s constant winds. Salvatore and Stefania do everything themselves, save for some seasonal help around pruning and harvest seasons.

Though he still has access to the family winery, Salvatore does not feel comfortable making his wines there because he finds it too big and would rather be closer to the vines. In 2021, he purchased a four hectare property in the countryside where he is in the early stages of building a new winery, including a cellar, stocking room, tasting room and guest rooms. The cantina is surrounded by limestone rich coteaux: Salvatore has planted grafts of Nero d’Avola and Pignatello and plans to plant Grecanico in the near future.

Three wines are currently produced. The bianco is 100%
Catarratto, and comes from a 0.5 hectare vineyard planted by Salvatore in 2016 along with a 10 year old parcel of rented vines. It macerates five days before fermenting in
stainless steel, then ages in concrete tanks before bottling. Catarratto is actually a bit of a rarity in Pachino, as Grillo has gained traction throughout Sicily; most of Marino’s contemporaries are exclusively replanting Marsala’s native white grape. In fact, only four producers currently cultivate Catarratto and Salvatore is the only one focusing on new plantations.

“I like Grillo, but I do not feel it is optimal for the terroirs of Pachino. My grandfather told me when I was young that Catarratto was the white grape for this area. I always remembered that.”

The rosato is 100% Syrah and a direct press, fermented and aged in stainless steel.

Finally, the rosso is 95% Nero d’Avola, 5% Pignatello. It macerates only six days, ferments in stainless steel then ages in concrete. Salvatore’s ultimate goal with this wine is to be versatile with a meal (we can confirm it’s very good with fish) but also something you’d want to keep drinking after you’re done eating or even on its own.

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