Fabio Ferracane

Marsala, located on the western tip of Sicily, facing directly toward the Egadi Islands and North Africa, is a coastal plain with a millennia-old tradition of producing fortified wines (DOC Marsala) that benefits from an ecosystem strongly influenced by the sea and constant winds.

On their 3-hectare vineyard, the Ferracane family followed the same path as most small-scale winegrowers in the region during the 1990s: they sold most of their grapes to larger wineries in the Marsala DOC region and vinified only a small quantity for family consumption. It is in this context that the young Fabio became familiar with the art of winemaking, helping his father produce that small quantity of bottles for the family's daily needs.

At the beginning of this century, Fabio completed his studies in oenology, through which he acquired modern technical knowledge and skills in the industry, but he soon realized that this was not the path for him.

After taking over the family winery in 2011, he expanded the vineyard to its current 8 hectares, emphasizing manual labour in the vineyard in order to produce grapes that are as healthy as possible. To combat potential diseases, he uses sulfur and copper in the vineyard with the utmost restraint. In years with unfavourable harvests, he carefully selects the bunches, prioritizing quality over quantity.

The techniques he uses in the winery are the region's most traditional ones, dating back to before the boom in Marsala fortified wine production in the 19th century — techniques that, interestingly, are now being used by a new generation of producers all over the world: for example, he produces cloudy sparkling wines fermented in their own bottles, without “dégorgement”. He makes whites with maceration. He allows some wines to age in amphorae, and lets fermentation occur spontaneously. Only a minimal amount of sulfites is added to some wines during the pre-bottling phase.