COS: Not Your Traditional Winery

The three founders came from winegrowing families and made their first wine before beginning university. Giuseppe Cilia supplied Nero d’Avola grapes and helped them with the inaugural production, which was sold in Palermo. Cirino Strano left for medicine in 1985 and transferred his share to his sister Pina, who remained for about ten years. By 2011, the business was run by the architects Giambattista Cilia and Giusto Occhipinti and produced approximately 160,000 bottles annually. Its spacious, earthquake-resistant winery used indigenous yeasts, Spanish terracotta amphorae and large Slavonian vessels in place of small French barriques, reducing overt oak flavour and allowing the wines’ own character to emerge.