Tenuta Rapitalà

An ancient agricultural landscape

The name Rapitalà derives from the Arabic Rabat-Allah, meaning “garden of Allah,” and preserves the memory of land cultivated since ancient times. A document dated 1340 records a dispute before the royal court over possession of a sought-after fief called “Casalj Rabitallavi,” the historical name associated with Tenuta Rapitalà. Successive generations of farmers shaped the estate and its vineyard landscape over the centuries.

The founders and the reconstruction of 1968

Hugues Bernard, Count de la Gatinais, was born in Saint-Malo, France, in 1940 and served as an officer in the French navy for eight years. In 1968 he married Gigi Guarrasi, a descendant of a prominent Palermo family. Together they began the project from which the modern estate emerged.

Their first major undertaking was the reconstruction, according to modern criteria, of the old winery destroyed by the 1968 Valle del Belice earthquake. The couple also initiated an extensive conversion of the vineyards, addressing both their varietal composition and cultivation system.

Hugues de la Gatinais placed particular emphasis on bringing French varieties into dialogue with the estate’s native grapes. Rapitalà became the first Sicilian estate to introduce major international varieties including Chardonnay and Pinot Nero. The estate’s wine record is presented harvest by harvest from 1976.

Renewal, precision viticulture and the second generation

In 1999, a corporate agreement with Gruppo Italiano Vini gave the estate renewed momentum in its pursuit of higher quality. That year also marked the arrival of Silvio Centonze as chief winemaker. The project founded by Hugues and Gigi was subsequently continued by their son, Laurent Bernard de la Gatinais.

Rapitalà later participated as a national pilot estate in the Magis Protocol, launched in 2009 under a scientific committee chaired by Professor Attilio Scienza of the University of Milan. The Catarratto vineyard Vigna Casalj, source of Alcamo Classico Bianco DOC, served as the study site. Its 2012 vintage obtained Magis certification verified by DNV. The project applied precision-agriculture principles, using digital traceability and detailed knowledge of variability within individual plots to intervene only where, when and to the extent necessary.

The estate subsequently joined SOStain Sicilia, integrating organic vineyard management with broader environmental, production and traceability requirements.

Rapitalà follows a tailored agronomic protocol inspired by organic farming and designed around the estate’s pedoclimatic diversity. Management is parcel-specific: interventions are adjusted to the characteristics and variability of individual plots rather than applied uniformly across the property.

The Magis work at Vigna Casalj applied precision agriculture based on the principle of intervening only where, when and with what is necessary. Digital tracking procedures accompanied the different stages of vineyard work, building a more detailed understanding of variability within each plot and supporting targeted decisions.

The estate fulfils the organic-production protocol used within its SOStain framework and prohibits chemical herbicides. Biodiversity measures include winter grass cover, alternating inter-row sowing of legumes followed by green manuring, and sexual-confusion techniques. Natural areas account for more than 17% of the total property, exceeding the programme’s 5% threshold for estates larger than 15 ha. These areas consist principally of woodland, low-productivity grassland and spontaneous vegetation. Vineyard work also aims to encourage soil microflora and microfauna and reduce compaction.

Other SOStain requirements met by the estate include the use of eco-compatible vineyard materials and VIVA sustainability indicators. All purchased grapes assessed under the programme were of regional origin.

The improvement programme identified further measures: increasing annual applications of organic matter; reducing erosion through sowing and planting shrubs; adding aromatic species to the legumes already sown for biodiversity; improving sustainability training; and incorporating environmental, ethical and social considerations more fully into the evaluation of local suppliers. Planned water measures included sub-irrigation systems in new vineyards and more efficient use of water for winery-floor and equipment cleaning.

Production is supported by digitally traceable, plot-specific vineyard management developed through precision-agriculture work. Within the SOStain assessment, 100% of purchased grapes were of regional origin, and residue analysis covered 100% of commercial references, compared with a minimum requirement of 25%.

Measured energy consumption was 0.44 kWh/L, below the programme ceiling of 0.7 kWh/L. The recorded bottle weight was 585 g per 0.75 L against a 550 g target, with compliance achieved through compensation. Improvement objectives included shifting more grape processing to nighttime hours to reduce indirect energy-related emissions, adopting lighter bottles, optimizing water used for winery cleaning and maintaining a low water footprint.

Detailed cellar protocols for crushing, fermentation, maceration, vessel selection, maturation, stabilization, filtration and bottling are not incorporated here.