Centopassi Giato 2023 Bianco, Sicilia DOC Superiore

The Wine

‘Giato’ is the name of the area around the ancient Greek theatre on Mount Jato, and these first two wines are the everyday bottlings from Centopassi. They are both dry, very well made, and delicious, very different in style and quality from most of the commercial examples from this area.

The Giato Bianco is a blend of 60% Grillo and 40% Catarratto from the Giabbascio Pietralunga and Verzanica vineyards, planted on the Belice Corleonese plateau. These two grape varieties are widely grown in western Sicily and were once mostly used to make Marsala. But they make very good white wine too; this shows none of the vague soft character of bad commercial examples, instead you'll find it to be brisk, flavorful (hints of herbs, apple, and mandarin orange), and delicious.

Shockingly good for the money.

The Winery

All organic viticulture, certified and labeled 'Libera Terra Co-op' member, embodying the anti-Mafia movement. High elevation vineyards.

Western Sicily grows a lot of OK wine, but the wines from Centopassi are different. They come from various vineyards in the high Belice Corleonese, a plateau at over 1800 feet above sea level, near the town of Corleone, south of Palermo.

The soils are clay of various kinds, at an altitude that gives cool nights and fresh acidity at harvest; the vineyards are cultivated organically; the varieties are indigenous to Sicily, which is to say adapted to the conditions found here; the winemaking allows the native character of the fruit to shine and is not at all intrusive, and the results range from excellent everyday drinking (Giato Rosso and Bianco) to some of the best Sicilian single-vineyard wines outside of Etna. 

The whites are particularly striking, vivid, and mouthwatering, but the whole range is consistently excellent.

That’s the vinous story, but there is another side to this estate. ‘I Cento Passi,’ the Hundred Steps, is an anti-Mafia film made in 2000, and Centopassi wines are grown in vineyards confiscated from convicted Mafiosi, some of them notorious (such as Salvatore ’Toto’ Riina). In other words, the mere existence of this estate is a renunciation of the Mafia, and of the terrible effect that the Mafia has had on the people of Sicily for generations. We are proud to support Centopassi and Libera Terra, the organization behind it.

Harvest at Centopassi normally takes place at the end of August through September, depending on the variety. Fermentation for the white wines is carried out with neutral selected yeasts, while indigenous yeasts are used for the reds.