To salute its constantly growing quality, Vigna di Gabri will have a new label for the 2004 vintage. It’s a wine that inseparably links Gabriella Rallo with her pure Ansonica, one of the best-known and most popular Sicilian whites.

Vigna Gabri is a symbolic wine for Donnafugata and for many reasons: first of all because the name it bears is that of Gabriella Rallo, founder of the winery along with her husband, Giacomo. Enthralled by the enveloping fragrance of Ansonica, Gabriella greatly desired to make this wine her own and to “raise” it up as one of Donnafugata’s best-known and best-liked whites.

Vigna di Gabri has always been distinctive for its exemplary ability to embody the characteristics of the Contessa Entellina zone, in the heart of western Sicily. Thanks to the mild winters and summers with big variations in night and day temperatures of this hilly district, Ansonica yields its best grapes, confirming its reputation as one of the most important of Sicily’s indigenous white-grape varieties.

With the 2004 vintage Vigna di Gabri has reached its fullest expression. The grapes were picked from mid-September on because of the belated ripening that characterized the year and cold-macerated and soft-pressed. The must was fermented in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperatures. Maturation sur lies was carried out in steel (80%) and in oak (20%). In May, when bottle aging has ended, the wine will go to the market.

Antonio Rallo says that “Vigna di Gabri 2004 has a perfectly balanced acid structure and sapidity. In this wine the aromatic component of the Ansonica finds extremely elegant expression.” It represents an exciting growth in quality whose 2004 vintage Gabriella wished to salute with a brand new label.

“This new label,” explains Gabriella, “is for me an authentic declaration of love for Ansonica and for the Contessa Entellina area. It’s a place of remembrance and enchantment, where, in my youth, I fell in love with grapes and wine. Since 1987, birth year for this wine, the Vigna di Gabri label has been distinctive for its classic elegance. For the new one, which we will be presenting at Vinitaly 2005, I wanted it to portray a woman in perfect symbiosis with vines loaded with grapes gilded by the sun. This is an image that depicts me, because it shows, with extraordinary synthesis, the bond I feel with the vine and the wine that is its result.”

The latest novelty regards the back label. In addition to improving its traditional informative function, it was decided to make it a strong communication vehicle. And so, to exalt the wine’s personality, the back label offers an immediate link to the image on the front. This innovation also applies to the other wines and so from now on diners can enjoy the Donnafugata style from every angle.

Public Relations:

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

Laura Ellwanger [email protected] te. 0039 0923 724258