The German newspaper crowns the Sicilian winery for its interpretation of an autochthonous grape variety that is gaining increasing international acclaim.
Donnafugata SurSur is the best Sicilian wine produced from Grillo grapes: this is the response of the “Wine Championship Sicily” organized by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that is the most widespread generalist newspaper in Germany.
The result was published yesterday in the very popular Sunday edition of the FAZ and it is the fruit of the tastings carried out by a commission headed by journalists Fabian and Cornelius Lange, among the most respected international critics.
SurSur, the 2015 vintage of which was awarded, is a Grillo Sicilia DOC that Donnafugata produces on the hills of western Sicily; an extremely fresh and fruity wine characterized by an intriguing bouquet with notes of white-fleshed fruit combined with pleasant scents of meadow flowers.
“The fact that the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has dedicated a competition to Sicilian wines – says Antonio Rallo, winemaker of the family winery – demonstrates that the island occupies a prominent position in one of the major markets for Italian wine. The German people’s interest in wine produced from Grillo grapes also responds to a broader trend relating to the autochthonous grape varieties; Grillo is also increasingly appreciated overseas, in the United States, where Consorzio Sicilia DOC is committed to making known this variety. With SurSur Donnafugata intends to enhance the great pleasantness Grillo can have, and we are happy that our interpretation has convinced the writers of the FAZ.”
“The SurSur label is an artistic label – says José Rallo, head of Donnafugata with her brother Antonio – inspired by my mother Gabriella and designed by Stefano Vitale; it has the voice of springtime and shows Gabriella as a girl in flight, while she was running barefoot through flowers and fresh grass, following the singing of crickets that sounded sweet to her ears, like a thousand sursur.”