Turi Marino Catarratto Orange
Wine has been made in Salvatore Marino’s family for generations; growing up, his grandfather and father produced bulk wine in a large facility within the town of Pachino. Always a bon vivant, Marino’s love for good food begat a passion for seeking delicious bottles from Sicily and beyond. It also made him dream of starting a project of his own. No stranger to viticulture, Salvatore knew he could start farming vines from his wife Stefania’s family. Marino had learned how to make wine with his father, but found those bulk product riddled with defects, namely brett. For many years, Salvatore cut his teeth working at huge wineries in California, Puglia and Sicily to further his knowledge of enology.
100% Catarratto. From vines averaging 7-8 years old in the Buonivini contrada in the commune of Pachino on the extreme southeastern tip of Sicily (only 7 kilometers from both the Ionian and Mediterranean seas). The farming is organic, including only organic cow manure used occasionally as fertilizer and judicious copper and sulfur treatments. All work is done very much by the Marinos' own hands. The alluvial soils are silty and crumbly, with a lot of clay and limestone; they drain well but dry out easily, though thus far, irrigation hasn't been necessary. The Marinos work the soils superfically three times per year, with a simple, mechanical rototiller. The vines are pruned in alberello and tied securely to posts to withstand the constant, strong marine winds. The vineyard is dotted with olive, pomegranate, almond, various citrus and other trees; the Marinos also raise grain, which they mill into flour for pasta, and carob.
In the cellar, the hand-harvested bunches are destemmed and fermentated spontaneously in stainless steel tanks with temperature control and a gentle maceration lasting about 5 days. The wine is moved to concrete tank, where it goes through malolactic fermentation and ages until the spring following the harvest. Sulfur use is minimal. The wine is classified as an IGT Siciliane. "Turi" is the Sicilian nickname for Salvatore Marino's first name.