Nicolo Grippaldi

About

Owner & winemaker: Nicolò Grippaldi
Vineyards: 3.33ha
Vineyard management: Biodynamic since 2015
Soils: Blue clays, sandy, chalk with fossils, and quartz
Grapes grown: Nero d’Avola, Nerello Mascalese
Annual production: 13,000 bottles

Quick facts:

• Nicolò Grippaldi is the only wine producer in the province of Enna on Sicily.
• The very good boy shown in many of these photos is Teo–in addition to being Nicolò’s faithful vineyard and winery companion, he is the namesake for the wine “Le Domeniche di Teo,” which means “Sundays with Teo.”

Nicolò Grippaldi was a student of literature and philosophy in Florence when he first learned about biodynamic farming. It was a turning point in his life–it inspired him to return to Sicily and take over the abandoned land that belonged to his great-grandfather. From the last surviving vines of the neglected vineyard–ancient clones of Nero d’Avola and Nerello Mascalese nearing 200 years old–Nicolò grafted and replanted about 13,000 vines, bringing these historic clones back to life.

Today, he is the only wine producer in the province of Enna, Sicily. His vineyards are planted in the small village of Gagliano Castelferrato, 651 meters above sea level. The soils here are varied, from clay to sand, and include fossil-rich chalk as well as chunks of quartz. Nicolò has farmed biodynamically from the day he took over, and all vineyard work, from pruning to harvest, is done entirely by hand.

In the cellar, all fermentations occur spontaneously, with no added yeast or pied de cuve. The wines are fermented and aged in concrete tanks, and no wood is used. The wines are not handled reductively: “Natural oxygen is a friend and not an enemy,” Nicolò says. The wines are not filtered, only clarified by natural cold settling and then racked according to the lunar calendar. The wines usually age in bottle for 4-5 years before release.