Longarico, “Nostrale” 2020

Given “Longarico” is a joint project between two friends, one of which is Alessandro Viola whose eponymous imprint is well-known both on our shelves and across the natural-wine-world, it’s worth revisiting this snippet from a previous share’s profile of his own estate: “… on the northwest coast [of Sicily], where the Mediterranean Sea bites into this rock and carves out the Gulf of Castellamare, there rises a town and another [aside from Mt. Etna on the eastern end of the island] mountain. Here, upland from the ancient city of Álcamo in the province of Trapani, on the slopes of Mount Bonifato in what is known as the Alcamese Hinterland, Alessandro Viola lets in the sun, the sea air, elevation and earth to facilitate the iridescence of this place.” This same place is where Luigi Stalteri & Alessandro farm for their new-ish collaborative line of wines ‘Longarico.’ The name of the project is derived from the ancient Greek Longuro which denoted the particularly fertile, sea-influenced land on the slopes of Mount Bonifato – Longuro, as in here would be a great place to grow. A fitting name for a project that was originally borne by the joint desire to return to their Sicilian homeland after meeting and becoming fast friends in the north of Italy. That was back in 2007 – Alessandro working for a Piemontese winemaker and Luigi a local natural wine bar. Fast forward to today, and what must have began as a friendly conversation among Sicilians in the north is now more than reality – it’s Longarico.

Vinification & Tasting: 100% Catarratto, hand-harvested from 20 year-old-vines and directly pressed into stainless steel. Fermentation takes place with wild yeasts. The wine is racked and aged on the lees before being bottled unfined, unfiltered, with a touch of SO2. Round, bright, nutty, warming.