Is a synthesis of the Tenuta’s philosophy, expressing with its strong personality the uniqueness of the area. The selection of the grapes from the most celebrated vine parcels, the vinification techniques which enhance its typicity and the prestigious bottle with the relief of the ancient noble coat of arms of the Bernard de la Gatinais family make Conte Hugues the symbolic wine of Rapitalà.
From the vinification of two native Etna vines, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, the Etna Rosso DOC of the Tornatore winery is born, a wine with an intense and spicy aroma.
Among the finest crus of the Pietrarizzo district in Castiglione di Sicilia we find Etna Bianco Pietrarizzo di Tornatore, a savory and fresh wine, produced from 100% Carricante grapes.
Hugonis with its powerful and austere style is the most prized product of the Tenuta. The seal of Hugonis Bernardi - a knight in armour with two lions - which appears on the label, is the coat-of-arms of the family of Hugues Bernard de la Gatinais
Catarratto and chardonnay grapes give this wine fresh Mediterranean scents and a savoury, elegant flavour with a typical hint of bitter almonds. Piano Maltese is the heart of the Tenuta Rapitalà, gentle hills at between 300 and 600 metres altitude, which, because of their history, terrain and climate endow wines with a special character.
A document of 1340 chronicles a dispute before the royal, court concerning the possession of a particularly sought after fief in the district of "Casalj Rabitallavi”. This was the ancient name of Tenuta Rapitalà. Vigna Casalj di Rapitalà is a Sicilian white wine made from Catarratto grapes, with clear Mediterranean references of sage, tomato leaf and capers. The terroir gives it freshness and minerality.
Some rain during the early part of 2003 restored the soil’s water reserves. The flowering and the setting followed their normal course. The summer was very hot and dry, but growth developed steadily. The vines, for long periods close to stress conditions, acquired a rich reserve of polyphenols enhanced by a sunny and airy August which enabled them to reach full phenolic maturation.
The vineyards where we select the grapes for the production of Nuhar (flower in Arabic) are cultivated at the heart of the mountain which overlooks the Tenuta and from which rises the river “Rabidh Allah".
The 100% nero d’Avola gives this wine an exciting red colour, an aroma of ripe fruit and a typical, deep, balanced flavour. Piano Maltese is the heart of the Tenuta Rapitalà, gentle hills of between 300 and 600 metres altitude, which, because of their history, terrain and climate endow wines with a special character.
Within Tenuta Rapitalà, at about 400 metres above sea level, there is some land where dark clay alternates with tufaceous sand. It is here that is nurtured the unmistakeable character of the Syrah, from the grapes of which is born Nadir, the opposite of Zenith. A wine which takes its name from the Arab Nazir meaning deep, rare, precious.
The terroir and the vineyard: this wine developed from a project which had as its objective the extraction of the maximum expression of terroir in terms of the intensity of the organoleptic characteristics present in the wine.
This is a fresh wine, which should be consumed within two years. The name refers to my family's Spanish origins and we produce 75,000 bottles of it.
The grapes are equal quantities of Catarratto and Inzolia, fermented separately. The wines are blended in November.
Syrah is grown in different ways in the winery, depending on the intended use for the grapes, so these grapes come from a sunnier area than the first but have quite a different plant yield, in order to ensure a concentration that will make this wine ready to rest a year in small oak barrels, which have been previously used for our third Syrah.
This is the second red wine of the range and, unlike the red label Syrah, it is a structured wine with the typical elegance of a Sicilian Bordeaux blend, therefore Nero d'Avola, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.