A Brief History on Wine Production

A wall painting in the master bedroom of Villa Ravidà depicts a vapor boat leaving the coast. It was painted as evidence of the exports of Marsala wines from the coast of Menfi, Sicily, which had become an important aspect of the family production in the 19th Century.

The dessert wines from the Ravidà estate, La Gurra, were produced from indigenous varieties of grapes: Inzolia, Catarratto, Grillo and Grecanico. Renowned for their quality, they were sold not only to the Marsala wineries of Woodhouse, Ingham and Florio but also to some of the most outstanding Italian vermouths producers such as Cinzano and Martini & Rossi.

Vineyards in La Gurra

The second world war brought radical changes in the economy. Traditional varieties were replaced by the foreign Trebbiano Toscano, introduced for the development of a table wine market. The Ravidàs joined forces with a small group of local producers to set up a wine cooperative, Settesoli, today one of Italy’s largest. The production in those years, however, aimed at quantities rather than quality.

Nicolò Ravidà has been keen to invert this trend. He remembered the taste of excellent red wines produced on the estate that had been completely forgotten, just as in the rest of the island. In 1986, he started introducing red quality grapes and was the first producer to do so in Sicily. Several selected and naturalized clones of Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz are now the flagships of La Gurra’s vineyards.

Vineyards

The new farming technologies introduced allow to maintain constant control over the quantity and quality of the grapes. Whilst part of the produce is still handed over to the local winery, the remaining crop finds its way to some of Italy’s most distinguished wineries with plans to introduce it on the market under the RAVIDA own label.

Wine jars