FUSO + Dario Serrentino "CALA" Bianco, Sicily, Italy 2023

FROM PORTOVINO:

THE WINE: Cala Bianco is Dario from Mortellito’s spin on the white grapes from the northwest of Sicilia. He works with the specific clone of Catarratto that’s called Catarratto Extra Lucido - Extra Shiny Catarratto - which gives wines with more texture, depth, and color that the common Catarratto usually found throughout Sicilia. Dario is known for making highly drinkable and sea-breeze salty island wines. He is working here in the raised 400 meter plains outside the town of Partinico, 30 km west of Palermo. Seeking to tweak the acidity even more, he picks early in August instead of September. Pithy stone fruits, cantaloupe, dried citrus rinds, and sandalwood; the dried flowers on the nose extend into a long salty finish. It’s on the edge between an orange wine and a white wine, with 50 hours on the skins.

THE PRODUCER: FUSO is a PortoVino project in the spirit of what people from Europe still do today: once a year they visit their favorite local producer to fill up large glass demijohns that they later siphon off into smaller bottles at home. Every year we collaborate with our favorite organic farmers to siphon off and bottle only the most delicious and characterful wines from classic and off-the-radar growing areas.

For every FUSO wine, we have someone local from our team that is following the batch with the producer, from the vineyard to the bottle and then transport to you. This kind of of attention to detail on the production side allows us to have great juice, instead of just a cheap tasting commercial tank wine, or even a just a ‘good enough’ daily drinker. We’re very proud to be able to offer this kind of quality and terroir character, and it really is what drives the project.