# Turi Bianco Catarratto (2024)

- **Producer:** Azienda Agricola Salvatore Marino
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Catarratto
- **Region:** Sicilia, Italy
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 12.0%
- **Average price:** €25
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** lemon, peach, apricot, orange, fennel

## About this wine

Azienda Agricola Salvatore Marino is located in Contrada Buonivini near Pachino, in extreme southeastern Sicily. Salvatore Marino, known locally as Turi, represents the fifth generation of a winemaking family in the region. After spending a decade working as an oenologist in large industrial wineries, Marino returned to his roots in 2017 to focus on authentic, chemical-free viticulture on family land near the Vendicari Nature Reserve. His self-sufficient polyculture estate produces heirloom Russello wheat, olives, almonds, and citrus alongside indigenous grape varieties. The winery's striking bottle labels are inspired by early 20th-century Italian Futurism artwork.

## Interesting facts

- Salvatore Marino is a 5th-generation Pachino winemaker who also grows heritage Russello wheat and olives on his farm.
- Vines are trained using the traditional 'alberello pachinese' bush-vine system tied to wooden stakes against sea winds.
- While Pachino is famous for red Nero d'Avola, Salvatore crafts this rare white from 100% Catarratto with skin contact.
- The distinctive, bold bottle labels take inspiration from early 20th-century Italian Futurism artwork.

## Food pairing

The wine's vibrant acidity, saline sea-salt minerality, and soft skin-contact phenolics allow it to cut through rich seafood, elevate fresh shellfish, and harmonize beautifully with aromatic Mediterranean herbs and vegetable dishes without masking subtle flavors.

## Wine making process

The grapes are 100% hand-harvested from organic, bush-trained Catarratto vines grown on limestone-rich calcareous clay soils situated between the Mediterranean and Ionian seas. Hand-selected grapes are destemmed and undergo a gentle 3 to 5 day maceration on the skins. Fermentation occurs spontaneously using native yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, followed by natural malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged on its gross lees in concrete tanks until spring, then bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal added sulfur and no oak contact.