About this wine
Vineyard and terroir
The Grillo comes from 12 ha in Contrada Samperi, Marsala, in western Sicily. The flat site has medium-textured calcareous-sandy soil. The vines ranged from more than 20 to more than 40 years old, with Guyot-trained vertical trellises planted at 3,500 vines per hectare; the wine’s history also mentions bush-trained vines. Yield was 25 hl/ha.
Grapes
100% Grillo.
Vinification
The fruit was harvested manually in small crates during the last ten days of September and selected by hand. Soft pressing and natural sedimentation were followed by traditional fermentation in oak and chestnut barrels at ambient temperature. Fortification took place in 1988 solely through the addition of grape spirit obtained from the same grapes, without other additives.
Ageing
More than 30 years in chestnut and oak barrels of various sizes, followed by more than six months in bottle.
Technical data
Marsala Vergine Riserva DOC. Alcohol: 19% vol. Residual sugar: 26 g/l. Total acidity: 9 g/l. Total SO₂: 32 mg/l. Production: 3,000 bottles.
Tasting profile
A complex, balanced Marsala shaped by more than three decades in wood. Its contemplative style is likened to an extra-old distillate.
Serving and pairing
A meditation wine intended to be savoured slowly and attentively.
Vintage notes
1988 was the first and only vintage. Records on the product materials give several incompatible bottling dates: autumn 2014, 2019 and March 2021.
Label / history
Marco De Bartoli had long reserved the word “vergine” for Vecchio Samperi because it was made without added alcohol. In 1988 he challenged that personal convention by creating this fortified Marsala Vergine, while retaining close links to local tradition. The wine is presented as an expression of his experimental spirit and of the tension between tradition and modernity.
