Sicily, IT
Type, White
Grapes, Grillo
Alc. 12.5%
Year, 2020
Size, 750ml
Serving: cold (6-11°C)
About: The elios team is made up of two ex-consultants, Guido and Nicola, who left their jobs in 2015, to start their winemaking project in north-west Sicily. They set out with one goal: to make “pure fermented grape juice” alongside olive oil and honey from native bees. In the rolling hills just west of Palermo, you can find Azienda Agricola Elios. Just 3km in from the coast, the vineyard is set across clay, limestone, and calcarius soils. The pair tend to fifteen hectares planted full of olive trees, fruit, and of course, grape vines. The vines here are planted around 300 metres above sea level, nerello mascalese on clay soil and more generous lands for the whites.
Since their first vintage in 2015, the team have worked hard to scale production each year. They now make around 45.000 bottles per year (from 15.000 in their first vintage). The increase brings its own challenges: everything you see here is done by hand with respect for nature and tradition. No chemicals or fertilizers are allowed on the farm, and only organic and biodynamic treatments are used. There is just a drop of S02 used to stabilise the wines before bottling.