Porta del Vento was launched when Marco Sferlazzo, owner and winemaker, was offended to see a wine conglomerate ripping up precious plots of old vine Perricone and Catarratto, so he purchased the vineyards, converted them to organic and biodynamic farming, and the rest is history. This 100% Catarratto quasi-PetNat starts with 50 year old vines rooted in sandy soils about 600m above sea level. The grapes are hand harvested and then lightly pressed into cement tanks where the first fermentation takes place spontaneously on fine lees for 3 months. After the initial fermentation, the wine is bottled with some of the must for its second fermentation, like in Champagne, but it's not disgorged or filtered adn bottles without any added sulfur, which is more typical of a PetNat. It's hazy, straw yellow color with gentle bubbles precedes aromas of citrus and orchard fruit, orange blossom, and sea air. The palate is light-bodied with flavors of lemon, pineapple, melon, and ripe pear with bright acid, salivating salinity and clean but very apparent minerality. Pairs delectably with Sarde a Beccafico (stuffed sardines) or orange and fennel salad.

— Producer

Gnarly Vines