Samperi

Family roots at Baglio Vecchio Samperi

Baglio Vecchio Samperi has belonged to the De Bartoli family for more than two centuries. The family’s connection with wine predates Marco De Bartoli: his father also produced wine. The baglio preserves old barrels and wines that became the material foundation for Marco’s revival of the local pre-British wine tradition.

1978: restoration of the perpetual method

In 1978 Marco De Bartoli established the modern winery project at the family baglio. He restored the local perpetuo method to produce the traditional wine known around Marsala as stravecchio, the predecessor of fortified Marsala. He began with mature wines already resting in the baglio’s barrels, replenishing them each year with wine made from overripe Grillo grapes. This progressive blending of new wine into older stocks created a naturally alcoholic, oxidative wine without fortification.

Marco periodically drew reserves from the lowest level of the perpetual system and transferred them to individual oak casks for further ageing. One of the earliest of these reserves later became Vecchio Samperi Quarantennale.

1980: Vecchio Samperi and a territorial identity

Marco released his first wine, Vecchio Samperi, in 1980. Its name honoured Contrada Samperi and tied the project explicitly to the district’s arid, limestone- and mineral-rich land. The wine revived the pre-British vino di Marsala: a naturally produced, unfortified wine rather than Marsala as defined by the fortified-wine regulations.

The first Vecchio Samperi label was created in 1980 by Professor Carlo Lauricella. Lauricella later produced an image for a 1983 advertisement in Sicilia motori, contributing to the early visual identity of the winery.

1985: a new interpretation of Marsala

In 1985 Vigna la Miccia was bottled as an innovative Marsala Superiore Oro. Marco combined the traditional Marsala framework with temperature-controlled vinification and protected ageing intended to limit oxidation. This preserved more of Grillo’s primary fruit and produced a gentler, more delicate interpretation. The wine was made entirely from Grillo and aged in topped-up French-oak barrels.

1986: Marsala Superiore Riserva

Marco began producing Marsala Superiore Riserva in 1986. The wine followed the natural cycles of long ageing in oak and was sweetened with mistella, prepared according to an old formula by combining fresh Grillo must with grape spirit. It represented his personal continuation of Marsala tradition alongside the unfortified Vecchio Samperi.

1988: the “wine of contradiction”

In 1988 Marco experimented with Marsala Vergine, a category he had previously kept at a distance because he believed Vecchio Samperi—made without fortification—was the true expression of a “virgin” Marsala wine. Part of the Grillo must was fortified solely with grape spirit distilled from the same grapes. Marco chose not to release it, and the wine continued ageing for more than three decades in oak and chestnut vessels of different capacities. His children eventually released the reserve after his death as an expression of his sustained experimentation.

1990: Grillo beyond Marsala

In 1990 Marco initiated his first still white table wine from pure Grillo, Grappoli del Grillo. At the time, Grillo was largely associated with Marsala production. The project explored its capacity to produce structured, complex, long-lived dry wine through controlled fermentation, French-oak maturation and ageing on the lees.

1997: connecting two territories

In 1997 Marco created Sole e Vento, bringing together the structure of Grillo from Marsala and the aromatic character of Zibibbo from Pantelleria. It was conceived as the sole blend linking the two territories represented by the family’s separate cellars.

2006: the INTEGER project

The INTEGER project began in 2006. Its name derives from the Latin for “whole” and expresses an approach based on native varieties, skin contact, indigenous yeasts, open vessels and clay amphorae, natural settling, and avoidance of conventional physical or chemical treatments. The wines are released after reaching natural stability.

Marco De Bartoli died in 2006. His work passed to his children Renato, Sebastiano and Giuseppina, also known as Gipi. They continued the project with an increasing emphasis on vintage-dated, single-variety wines from indigenous grapes, alongside the historic perpetual and Marsala production.

2008: the third way for Grillo

In 2008 the family introduced two traditional-method sparkling expressions of Grillo under the Terzavia concept: a vintage wine and the reserve Cuvée VS. The latter incorporates a small amount of Vecchio Samperi at tirage. Fresh must rather than refined sugar supplies the fermentable sugar for the second fermentation, and the wines are finished without dosage.

2018: forty years

For the fortieth anniversary of the winery project, the family bottled one of Marco’s earliest perpetual-system reserves as Vecchio Samperi Quarantennale. Its ageing had begun in 1978 and reached an average of forty years. The label revived Carlo Lauricella’s 1983 artwork. The special reserve was presented during a celebratory dinner at Carlo Cracco’s restaurant in Milan.

The present generation

Renato, Sebastiano and Giuseppina De Bartoli continue their father’s research. Their work encompasses the old perpetual system, multiple interpretations of Marsala, dry native-variety wines, skin-contact wines and traditional-method sparkling wines, while retaining the family baglio as Samperi’s operational and historical centre.

Organic cultivation is identified for the 9 ha Grillo vineyard surrounding the historic baglio. The INTEGER block receives neither chemical soil fertiliser nor herbicide. Plant-protection treatments are sharply reduced and limited to small doses of copper and sulphur.

Yields per vine are kept moderate. Harvesting and cluster selection are manual, and fruit is collected in small crates. The short distance between the Contrada Samperi vineyards and the cellar limits transport time.

Planting density is generally 3,500 vines/ha. Single Guyot is the principal training system, while old Grillo material associated with the perpetual wines also includes alberello-trained vines. Reported yields vary by intended use: around 6 t/ha for several dry wines, 4 t/ha for the perpetual wine and approximately 2,000 litres/ha for special long-aged reserves.

Harvest timing is adapted to the intended expression. Fruit for fresh and sparkling Grillo can be collected from the second half of August; still and skin-contact Grillo generally follows around late August or early September; grapes for the perpetual system remain until the last part of September and can be harvested overripe.

Cellar and fermentation culture

Baglio Vecchio Samperi is both the historic family property and the operational centre of production. The cellar accommodates stainless-steel vats, open vessels, clay amphorae, French-oak barrels, larger oak and chestnut casks, and the old multi-level perpetual ageing system.

Manual selection, gentle pressing, natural settling and indigenous yeasts recur across the range. Musts intended for clean, fresh styles commonly settle at low temperature for 48 hours before fermentation. Fermentation may take place in stainless steel at controlled temperature, in French oak, or at ambient cellar temperature in oak and chestnut vessels. Sulphite additions are described as minimal in the fresh and sparkling styles.

Perpetual and Marsala production

The perpetual system is replenished by transferring small quantities of newly made Grillo into casks containing older wine. This creates a continuous blend of vintages. Vecchio Samperi undergoes traditional fermentation with indigenous yeasts in oak and chestnut at ambient temperature, followed by an average of at least 15 years in the perpetuo system. Historic reserves are drawn from its lower level and continue ageing in individual oak casks; the Quarantennale reached an average age of 40 years.

The Marsala Superiore tradition uses mistella, made from fresh Grillo must and grape spirit. Classic examples age for more than ten years in oak vessels of different sizes. Marsala Vergine Riserva 1988 was fortified only with grape spirit distilled from the same grapes and matured for more than thirty years in oak and chestnut vessels.

Vigna la Miccia follows a contrasting protected approach. Grillo is fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel and then aged for four years in French oak kept continuously topped up, limiting oxygen exposure and preserving primary fruit.

Still wines

Fresh Grillo and Catarratto Lucido are gently pressed, naturally settled for 48 hours, fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel and matured for six or seven months on fine lees.

Grappoli del Grillo begins fermentation in stainless steel and completes it in 225, 500 and 1,000 litre French-oak vessels. It matures for 12 months in fine-grained French oak, including tonneaux and 10 hl vats, on its lees with bâtonnage, followed by bottle ageing.

Pignatello is macerated in stainless steel with temperature-controlled punching down and pumping over, fermented by indigenous yeasts, and matured for 24 months in 10 hl French-oak barrels before a short period in bottle.

Skin-contact and amphora production

For INTEGER Bianco, part of the destemmed and gently crushed Grillo ferments spontaneously with skins in used barrels for about 10 days, without pumping over or punching down. The remainder ferments in terracotta amphorae and stays on skins for several months. The broader INTEGER approach uses open vats and amphorae, indigenous yeasts, ambient temperature, natural settling, no fining or filtration and no added sulphites.

Traditional-method sparkling wine

Whole clusters are cooled, selected and directly pressed. After natural must settling, fermentation begins in stainless steel; about 20% may continue in French oak, with temperature controlled indirectly through cellar air conditioning. Indigenous yeasts and minimal sulphites are used.

Fresh must replaces refined sugar at tirage, contributing the natural sugar required for bottle fermentation while lowering the base wine’s alcoholic strength. The sugar contribution does not exceed 15%. Terzavia Metodo Classico spends at least 18 months on its lees in bottle and is finished without dosage. The rosé base spends 12 months on its lees in steel before tirage and at least 14 months on bottle lees, also without dosage. Cuvée VS receives a small addition of Vecchio Samperi during tirage.

Samperi’s central idea is a return to origin: preserving the old wine culture of Marsala while allowing inherited techniques to evolve through observation and experimentation. Marco De Bartoli treated Vecchio Samperi as the starting point for communicating territorial identity, restoring an unfortified tradition that preceded British-influenced fortified Marsala.

The project favours indigenous grapes, especially Grillo, but also Catarratto Lucido and Pignatello. These varieties are approached not as fixed historical artefacts but as material for continued research: long oxidative ageing, protected Marsala vinification, dry still wines, skin contact, amphorae and traditional-method sparkling production all form part of the same inquiry.

The family’s stated priorities combine quality with respect for Sicilian wine traditions, environmental responsibility and sustainability. Curiosity, observation, experimentation and respect for identity within diversity define the current work. The INTEGER wines take this further by seeking wholeness between variety and place, avoiding conventional chemical, physical and mechanical treatments and waiting for natural stability.

Renato, Sebastiano and Giuseppina regard Marco as the root of their work. Their guiding idea is that originality can be achieved by returning to origins, while continuing to develop vintage-dated, single-variety wines capable of expressing differences between grapes, seasons and methods.