History
1989 — Arrival on Pantelleria
Donnafugata began its Pantelleria project in 1989, drawn to the volcanic island’s dry, windy environment and its tradition of growing Zibibbo in low, head-trained bushes. The first production unit stood in the Ghirlanda district. It comprised a small but equipped vinification cellar and worked with 7 hectares of vineyards to make naturally sweet Passito and Moscato di Pantelleria.
The 1989 harvest produced the first Ben Ryé Passito di Pantelleria DOC. The project combined the island’s established viticultural practices with winemaking techniques already employed for the company’s premium Sicilian white wines. It also marked the beginning of Donnafugata’s sustainability programme on Pantelleria, centred on manual cultivation, the avoidance of chemical herbicides and fertilizers, protection of the terraced landscape and adaptation to scarce water resources.
Over the following years the project expanded through the recovery and management of vineyards in districts with different soils, elevations, exposures and distances from the sea. An estate account prepared twenty years after the first harvest recorded 68 hectares of owned or managed vineyards, compared with the initial 7 hectares. This expansion was conceived as a programme of viticultural recovery: abandoned terraces and vines were returned to production so that high-value wine could help sustain the labour-intensive farming system and preserve the island landscape.
1999 — Recovery of the heritage vineyard
In 1999 Donnafugata restored a century-old Zibibbo vineyard in Khamma that had been invaded by brambles. The vineyard contained ungrafted plants more than 100 years old that had survived phylloxera. Their longevity and resistance to drought, limestone and salinity made them an important reserve of agricultural biodiversity. Professor Mario Fregoni of the Università Cattolica in Piacenza documented their historical importance for Sicilian viticulture.
2006 — The new Khamma winery
Construction of the new Khamma winery was completed on 4 April 2006. Architect Gabriella Giuntoli designed the complex for a natural amphitheatre of terraced Zibibbo vineyards, then encompassing more than 12 hectares in Khamma. Existing agricultural storage buildings were retained to preserve the integrity of the landscape at the edge of the old settlement.
The production building was faced in hand-cut lava stone. A separate palazzotto pantesco was planned for offices, a wine shop and three guest units, with a small garden of orange, mandarin and lemon trees between the two structures. The winery was equipped to handle the entire local Zibibbo process, from grape reception and pressing to drying and fermentation. Giacomo and Gabriella Rallo had developed the project while walking through Khamma’s old vineyards, conceiving it as both a working winery and an architectural expression of equilibrium between the island landscape and human activity.
2008 — Restoration and donation of the Giardino Pantesco
In 2008 Donnafugata restored an authentic Giardino Pantesco among its Khamma vineyards and donated it to FAI, the Italian National Trust. The transfer was marked on 12 September by Giacomo Rallo and FAI director general Marco Magnifico.
The garden is a circular dry-lava-stone enclosure built to shelter a single century-old orange tree of the Portugal variety. Its walls protect the tree from wind, create shade that limits transpiration, capture nocturnal humidity and return moisture to the soil. The restoration preserved one of the island’s traditional, water-self-sufficient agricultural structures and opened it to visitors.
2010 — Zibibbo biodiversity trial
In March 2010 an experimental vineyard was planted in the Barone district under the supervision of Professor Attilio Scienza. Its 0.6 hectares contained 2,117 vines representing 33 Zibibbo biotypes collected from Spain, France, Greece and southern Italy, with approximately 64 plants of each biotype. Fresh grapes, naturally dried grapes and small-lot fermentations were included in the study, whose purpose was to identify material capable of resisting Pantelleria’s extreme conditions while expressing strong viticultural and oenological potential.
2014–2018 — Recognition of agricultural traditions
In 2014 the traditional practice of cultivating the low Pantelleria alberello was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The practice trains vines horizontally inside hollows so that they can withstand wind and retain rainwater and night-time humidity.
In 2015 the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage granted the Donnafugata Giardino Pantesco a commendation in the context of Italy’s participation in the Council of Europe Landscape Award. The recognition treated the garden as testimony to rural knowledge and to the long symbiosis of agriculture and landscape on Pantelleria.
In 2018 the art of constructing dry-stone walls was also inscribed as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. Donnafugata has recovered and now maintains more than 40 km of dry volcanic-stone walls, which support the terraces, limit erosion and preserve habitat and landscape structure.
2022 — Cammino di Khamma
In June 2022 Donnafugata opened the Cammino di Khamma, developed with agronomist Antonella Ingianni. The nature trail begins at the Khamma winery and crosses terraces and dry-stone walls to a panoramic area devoted to the island’s Mediterranean vegetation. Interpretive material identifies the morphology, properties and traditional uses of plants including Euphorbia, Lentisco, Fillirea, Caprifoglio, Tè siciliano, Ginestra villosa and Dafne Gnidio. The route also presents capers, old creeping olive trees and the relationship between cultivated land and uncultivated maquis, ending at the Osservatorio di Khamma.
The estate today
The estate encompasses 53 hectares of Zibibbo vineyards and 7 hectares of olive groves across 16 districts. Vineyards extend from 20 to 400 metres above sea level. Khamma and Barone contain production facilities inside Pantelleria National Park, and the estate continues to combine wine production with terrace conservation, biodiversity research, the maintenance of dry-stone walls and public interpretation of the agricultural landscape.
Terroir
Island setting and relief
Pantelleria is a volcanic island between Sicily and North Africa. Its terrain is steep and complex, and vineyards are distributed across small terraces supported by dry-built lava-stone walls. Donnafugata’s sites extend from approximately 20 to 400 metres above sea level, creating marked differences among districts in elevation, exposure, distance from the sea and ripening time.
Vines close to the coast, at about 20 metres, are exposed to marine salinity. Vineyards at around 400 metres experience cooler conditions and a stronger inland influence. The variety of environments allows a single grape, Zibibbo, to develop contrasting expressions across the estate.
Soils
The dominant soils are deep, loose volcanic sands, generally sub-acidic to neutral, with pH values across the estate ranging approximately from 5.9 to 7. They are mineral-rich and occupy terraces shaped on the island’s volcanic relief. Punta Karace is distinguished by rockier volcanic sand, while measured total limestone among the described districts ranges from 8% to 14%.
Climate
Winters are mild and relatively dry, with annual rainfall of about 460 mm. Summers are warm, arid and windy. Wind improves grape health on the vine and during natural drying on racks, functioning as a natural check on fungal pressure. At the same time, year-round exposure to wind, low rainfall and the absence of freshwater springs make farming demanding.
The low alberello pantesco and its planting hollow are direct responses to these conditions. The hollow shields the plant from wind and helps retain rainfall and nocturnal humidity, while horizontal training keeps the canopy close to the ground. The system permits vines to survive without artificial irrigation.
Landscape architecture
Dry-stone walls retain soil on the slopes, limit erosion and create the small terraced units on which the vines grow. The warm volcanic stone, shallow planting hollows and very low pruning together shape the estate’s vineyard microenvironments. More than 40 km of walls are maintained annually.
Winemaking
Pantelleria’s vineyards are cultivated almost entirely by hand. Zibibbo vines are planted in shallow hollows and trained as very low alberello pantesco bushes. Pruning guides the plant horizontally, almost along the ground, reducing exposure to wind and helping it use captured rainfall and night-time humidity. Planting density generally ranges from 2,500 to 3,600 vines per hectare, while documented experimental higher-density plantings reached 4,673 vines per hectare. Typical yields are 4,000–6,000 kg/ha, equivalent to approximately 1.6–2 kg per vine.
The small, scattered terraces prevent conventional mechanization. Vineyard work includes the manual construction and maintenance of windbreaks and dry-stone retaining walls, as well as hand harvesting. An estate labour study calculated about 90 working days per hectare annually, roughly three times the requirement at Contessa Entellina. A Pantelleria picker averaged 340 kg of grapes per day, compared with 800 kg at the more mechanizable estate. More than 40 km of lava-stone walls are restored and maintained to control erosion and protect habitat and landscape structure.
Integrated-production methods combine environmental monitoring with targeted plant protection. Rainfall, temperature and humidity are monitored, and pheromone traps are used to track grape moths. Chemical herbicides and fertilizers are avoided, pesticide use is reduced through integrated pest management, and practices include green manure, organic fertilization and cluster thinning. SQNPI certification was obtained in 2022, while Good Agricultural Practices have formed part of vineyard management since 2011.
Pantelleria’s alberello vines are grown without artificial irrigation, relying on the planting hollow, rainwater and natural humidity. Vineyard and winery water management includes recovery and treatment systems; the Pantelleria winery has an on-site purifier, with treated water discharged through drainage ditches. Water impacts are monitored through the VIVA programme.
Biodiversity work includes the restoration of old vineyards and the conservation of ungrafted Zibibbo. The Khamma heritage vineyard contains plants over 100 years old that resist drought, limestone and salinity. The Barone trial compares 33 Mediterranean Zibibbo biotypes through observations of fresh grapes, dried grapes and small-lot fermentations. Buffer areas of wild vegetation, Mediterranean maquis, groves and flowering plants provide ecological continuity and habitat for pollinators. Both the Khamma and Barone production sites lie within Pantelleria National Park.
The Khamma winery was designed to perform the full local Zibibbo sequence: grape reception, pressing, natural drying and fermentation. Its production building and hospitality structure form two separate units; the vinification building is faced in hand-cut lava stone, while the palazzotto pantesco uses vaulted ceilings derived from the island’s dammusi.
Fresh grapes intended for naturally sweet wines are selected alongside bunches destined for drying. The drying grapes are laid manually on racks and exposed to the island’s dry summer air. Wind supports healthy dehydration and acts as a natural check on fungal development. Dried berries are then removed manually from their stalks.
The Ben Ryé process combines naturally dried grapes with a tailored vinification lasting more than one month. The dried-fruit component is progressively integrated until the desired balance is reached. A historical production study calculated that one worker could lay approximately 100 kg of fresh grapes on drying racks in an hour but could manually destem only about 5 kg of dried grapes in the same time. Roughly 4 kg of fresh grapes were required for one litre of passito, corresponding to a wine yield of about 25%.
Zibibbo from contrasting districts has been vinified in separate lots to preserve the identity of different soils, exposures, elevations, vine ages and harvest dates before final use. The estate’s experimental work also employs microvinifications of both fresh and dried grapes from individual Zibibbo biotypes.
Wastewater from production is treated in an on-site purification system. The winemaking facilities, vineyard operations and environmental controls at Pantelleria participate in ISO 9001 quality management, ISO 14001 environmental management, EMAS registration and ISO 22000 food-safety systems.
Philosophy
Donnafugata presents quality wine as an act of respect for the land and its rhythms. On Pantelleria this principle takes the form of working district by district and vine by vine, combining manual precision with research and modern winemaking. The objective is not to standardize the island’s Zibibbo but to interpret the contrasting soils, elevations, exposures, vine ages and harvest dates found across its 16 districts.
The estate defines Pantelleria as a place of heroic viticulture, where economic quality and landscape conservation are inseparable. High-value production is intended to sustain the exceptional labour required by low bush vines, scattered terraces, manual drying and destemming, and the continuous repair of dry-stone walls. Vineyard recovery is therefore treated not only as a production decision but as a means of returning life and visual continuity to abandoned agricultural environments.
Its declared principle is that quality cannot exist without sustainability. This encompasses the avoidance of chemical herbicides and fertilizers, integrated pest management, efficient water use, the survival of vines without artificial irrigation, wastewater treatment, the preservation of old ungrafted plants and research into Zibibbo biodiversity.
Traditional knowledge and innovation are treated as complementary. The UNESCO-recognised alberello pantesco, planting hollows, terraces and natural grape drying remain central, while clonal comparison, environmental monitoring, separate-lot vinification and certified management systems provide contemporary tools for interpreting and protecting the island.