Maggio Vini,
the hearth of Sicily’s only DOCG region
Fifty hectares of vineyards in the heart of the classical Cerasuolo di Vittoria production area, give life to the twenty wines that express the Maggio winery’s identity: the region’s narrative and its history, our rediscovery and development of indigenous grape varieties, and our research and experimentation on adapting international varieties to the Sicilian environment.
In tending our vineyards, we give special attention to appropriate cultivation methods for each variety, the protection of biodiversity and the virtues it can bring to our wines. We carefully select the grapes from each vineyard to create great wines that effectively convey the best this generous land has to offer. We invest in continual technological progress in our winery, to ensure our wines are increasingly natural and faithful to the characteristics of every terroir, grape and vintage.
Wine through region, history and innovation
Maggio wines are a synthesis of the vast vine growing and wine-making heritage of the Vittoria di Cerasuolo region. On the one hand are the rare and exceptional merits of indigenous varieties, beginning with Frappato and Nero d’Avola, which have been combined since time immemorial in the characteristic blend that is currently the only Sicilian DOCG; on the other, the extraordinary adaptability of the soils to the great international varieties. Our production strategy is fully oriented towards drawing the greatest advantage from this tradition, and marketing it throughout the world thereby increasing product image recognition. As well as working on our historical vineyards, we have planted new vines after making specific choices. On the one hand, some varieties, such Frappato, are strictly bush-trained to maximise their qualities, but then all the individual vineyards yielding our various Crus are attentively tended. On the other hand, organic farming, which fully exploits the vast biodiversity of these lands aimed at total environmental sustainability, and a natural wine-making process.
The high level of technology employed in our winery in Vittoria is combined with faithful interpretation of a tradition deeply rooted in time, of which we are faithful custodians.
The Hyblean Region
Legend has it that the Dirillo River at the heart of these valleys was the place where Aeneas first landed in Europe. And vines had already been grown here since the Syracusans founded Kamarina: coins and wine amphora from the archaeological park not far from the Maggio winery still carry vestiges of this region’s ancient wine history.
When Vittoria Colonna Henriquez, Countess of Modica, founded the city to which she gave her name in 1607, she gave the settlers a hectare of land on condition they cultivated another hectare with vineyards and planted Nero d’Avola and Frappato grapes, which were already being blended in the Cerasuolo wine. We are in the heart of a land that reflects the entire history of humanity, from its prehistoric settlements near the sea to the historic Baroque towns of Val di Noto, UNESCO world heritage.