Gabrio Bini

Gabrio Bini originally worked as an architect in Milan, but in 1993 was given the opportunity to buy some elevated vineyards with old vines on the Italian island of Pantelleria halfway between Sicily and Tunisia. The meeting with legend Pierre Overnoy in Jura became a great inspiration for Gabrio, and in 2005 he founded Azienda Agricola Serragghia and started making wine from his vineyards.

Gabrio Bini ploughs using a horse and the yield is very low. Volcanic soil, elevated vineyards, surprisingly moderate temperatures all year round and cool sea breezes create a climate where the vineyards can be cultivated completely without the use of chemicals. The grapes undergo a slow fermentation in buried amphorae under open air and subsequently spend between three to four months with the skins before the wine is racked and continue the ageing in amphorae. The wine is eventually bottled unfined, unfiltered and completely without added sulphur. The style is extremely light, perfumed and elegant, and it is hard to believe that these wines originate from an island closer to the coast of Africa than to any wine region in Europe.