Donnafugata

From Marsala cellar to pioneer of modern Sicilian wine

The Rallo family's roots in Sicilian viticulture go back a long way — Giacomo Rallo came from a winegrowing dynasty with over 170 years of history, whose beginnings lay in Marsala, where English trading houses once dominated the business of fortified wines. In 1983, Giacomo and his wife Gabriella made a clean break: the historic family cellars in Marsala became the starting point for a new company that focused on quality and origin — no longer on anonymous blended wine. Gabriella Rallo chose the name Donnafugata, literally "woman in flight," against the express advice of marketing experts: it refers to the legend of Queen Maria Carolina, who fled Napoleon's troops to Sicily at the beginning of the 19th century and found refuge exactly where the vineyards are located today.

Because Marsala was too narrow as a location for the new vision, Giacomo and Gabriella Rallo developed the hills of Contessa Entellina in western Sicily in the following years — wasteland that they transformed step by step into vineyards. In 1990, their children José and Antonio joined the company. After Giacomo's death in May 2016, they have continued to lead the winery in the fifth generation, today already with the next generation in the background.

Consistent manual labor, no herbicides, five terroirs

Donnafugata currently manages around 400 hectares of vineyards on five estates: in addition to the headquarters in Marsala and the main estate of Contessa Entellina, there are also sites in Vittoria, on Mount Etna, and on the volcanic island of Pantelleria, which lies in the Mediterranean between Sicily and the Tunisian coast. Each location follows its own climatic and geological laws — from coastal terraces on Pantelleria to volcanic soils in Randazzo on Mount Etna.

In the vineyard, Donnafugata has consistently avoided chemical herbicides and synthetic fertilizers since the late 1980s. Instead, the house relies on green manure, organic fertilization, targeted grape thinning, and pheromone traps for pest control. In 2011, Donnafugata was one of the first Sicilian wineries to calculate its carbon footprint; in 2021, it joined the SOStain Sicilia sustainability program. On Pantelleria, the estate also maintains an experimental vineyard with 33 Zibibbo biotypes from various Mediterranean regions — with the goal of identifying the clones best suited to the island's extreme terroir.

Sicilian grape varieties, clear origin, unmistakable label

What distinguishes Donnafugata stylistically is the combination of indigenous varieties with modern cellar technology without loss of origin. The white wines — made from Catarratto, Grillo, Zibibbo, and Chardonnay — are mostly aged in stainless steel and aim for freshness, salinity, and varietal aroma profiles. Among the red wines, Nero d'Avola forms the core, partly as an expression of the site, partly as the backbone of cuvées with international varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. On Mount Etna, Nerello Mascalese is added, which reflects the volcanic minerality of the north. From our range, wines like the Anthilia, the Lighea made from Zibibbo, or the Etna Rosso Contrada Marchesa are good entry points into the breadth of the house.

The characteristic labels featuring the woman figure blowing in the wind — designed by Gabriella Rallo — have been a trademark far beyond the wine world for decades. The same principle behind the imagery applies in the cellar: show Sicily as it is — lively, complex, and without false modesty.