Tenuta Rinazzo

From medieval fief to family estate

The land occupied by Tenuta Rinazzo formed part of an ancient fief granted in 1131 by Ruggero II of Sicily to the Basilian religious order. It subsequently passed to the Jesuits, whose vegetable garden once occupied this corner of the Marsala hinterland. The estate remained associated with the Jesuit order until the eighteenth century.

Entry into the Pellegrino family

Tenuta Rinazzo passed to the Pellegrino family after Italian unification. Its name is linked to the Sicilian word rena, meaning sand, a reference to the estate’s paleobeach soils and stark, almost desert-like landscape.

The estate became one of the family properties through which Pellegrino matched individual grape varieties to markedly different environments in western Sicilia. Syrah was selected for Rinazzo because of its capacity to grow under severe heat, limited water availability and large day–night temperature swings.

The Tenute di Famiglia project

In 2010, Pellegrino began a seven-year programme of vineyard and cellar work across four family estates. The project combined field research, precision viticulture and the identification of the variety best adapted to each estate’s pedoclimatic conditions. At Rinazzo, this work centred on Syrah and on what Pellegrino termed viticoltura di sopravvivenza—survival viticulture in an exceptionally severe inland environment.

The resulting four estate crus were unveiled in April 2017 for Pellegrino’s return to Vinitaly, during the fair’s 51st edition. The vineyards involved in the programme were managed under a certified-organic agronomic regime.

The 2020 harvest

During the 2020 season, the Syrah vines extended along a ridge in an almost desert-like setting, beneath a monastery dating from the fourteenth century. Sandy soils, semiarid conditions and pronounced temperature variation produced small, intensely blue berries. The recorded yield was 75 quintals per hectare, below the previous vintage, while fruit maturity indicated a potential alcohol level of 13.5%. At that time, production of Pellegrino’s still white and red wines was overseen by Gaspare Catalano, who had worked with the family for more than thirty years.

Contemporary estate

Tenuta Rinazzo now comprises 11 hectares of vineyard planted entirely to Syrah. The estate forms part of Pellegrino’s group of organically managed family properties. In November 2025, the wider technical team began collaborating with Marsala-born oenologist and Master of Wine Pietro Russo to strengthen its contemporary interpretation of western Sicilian wines.

Location and landscape

Tenuta Rinazzo lies in the hinterland of Marsala, in the province of Trapani, at approximately 100 metres above sea level. Its Syrah follows an inland ridge in an austere, sparsely vegetated landscape described as almost desert-like. A fourteenth-century monastery overlooks the vineyard area.

Paleobeach soils

Rinazzo is a paleospiaggia—an ancient beach. Its name evokes rena, the local term for sand. Semiarid sandy soil rests directly upon a clay substratum and contains few nutrients available to the vines. The contrast between the permeable sand and underlying clay defines the estate’s unusual soil profile.

Climate

The inland site experiences extremely high daytime temperatures, hot and dry summers, limited water availability and strong thermal variation between day and night. These temperature swings are characteristic of the interior of Sicilia and are especially pronounced at Rinazzo.

Effects on the fruit

Heat, sunlight, water scarcity and nutrient-poor soil place the vines under severe environmental pressure. Syrah responds by producing very small berries with thick skins. The high skin-to-pulp ratio favours greater polyphenolic concentration and deeply coloured fruit. The resulting estate expression is associated with structure, spice and notes including sour cherry, ripe red fruit, clove, rosemary, black pepper and pomegranate.

Rinazzo is cultivated through an estate-specific form of precision viticulture developed during years of field research. Differences in climate, soil, sunlight and wind exposure are assessed at row level, while Syrah was selected for its ability to adapt to the estate’s hot, dry and nutrient-poor environment.

The approach is characterised as viticoltura di sopravvivenza, or survival viticulture. The vines remain exposed to intense sun, water scarcity, very high daytime temperatures and pronounced thermal variation. These conditions naturally restrict berry size and increase the proportion of skin to pulp.

The owned family estates are cultivated organically. BIO AGRICERT certification was obtained in 2015, with synthetic pesticides and fertilisers excluded under the certified regime. Organic fertilisers are used in the vineyards. Across the family estates, vineyards coexist with centuries-old olive trees, orchards, cereals and vegetables; these agricultural crops are also managed organically, with crop rotation used to follow seasonal cycles and replenish soil nutrients.

The wider environmental system includes SOStain Sicilia and VIVA participation from 2022. Its vineyard-related indicators encompass soil conservation, water reserves, carbon footprint, water footprint and the relationship between wine and territory.

Syrah is harvested from the final ten days of August through the first ten days of September. The fruit undergoes maceration at controlled temperature until alcoholic fermentation is complete.

The wine matures for at least 10 months in steel and wood, followed by an extended period of bottle ageing. This is the current production sequence for the estate’s Syrah. Vinification of Pellegrino’s still white and red wines takes place within the company’s dedicated Cardilla production structure, distinct from its Marsala and Pantelleria cellars.