Interaction among soil, climate and vine supplied the basis of harvest selections. Elegance and finesse are characteristics of the 2004 wines. Whites and reds have more bouquet thanks to exceptional grapes.

An especially rainy winter and spring and a summer with milder temperatures than usual slowed development of the grapes during the 2004 growing season. The weather, so different from conditions in preceding years, delayed the vineyards’ vegetation-and production cycle by 15 to 20 days, which resulted in slow and regular ripening of the berries.

The particularities of this year were extremely important to decisions in the vineyards, which were based on the essential principle of modern, high-quality viticulture: the complex interaction that exists between soil, climate and vine.

Careful monitoring of grape parameters, both analytic and sensory, revealed spotty ripening: even where the varieties were the same. Differences from one vineyard to the next were accentuated by the weather, which required extremely careful decisions about the right times for harvesting.

The weather enhanced sugar-acid balance as well as aromatic maturation, especially in the white grapes, and phenol composition in the reds. In general, the 2004 vintage will be memorable less for potency than for the elegance and finesse of the wines.

To date, samplings from the barrels show that the reds have benefited from the outstanding ripeness of the fruit and give promise of the mellowness and elegance that will be developed when the wines have fully matured.

The novelty this year is a new blend for Lighea 2004. After several years of experiments, we added 40% Zibbibo from Pantelleria to enhance the aromatic component of this wine. The remaining 60%—half and half between the indigenous Cataratto and Ansonica grapes—confirms the wine’ remarkable Mediterranean character. The olfactory sensations of this new blend are exciting.

On Pantelleria, in a soil and climate context that is even more diversified from zone to zone, the Zibibbo grapes secured extremely felicitous expression in the Kabir and Ben Ryé. Weather conditions in 2004 enhanced the aromatic component, broadening taste perceptions enhanced by development of a well-balanced alcoholic and acidic structure.

Public Relations:

Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] tel. 0039 0923 7242267

Laura Ellwanger [email protected] te. 0039 0923 724258