It is the completion of an annual ritual that took place this morning at Borgo Guarini, one of Firriato’s four estates in the Trapanese countryside. Is is also the symbol of a “long” harvesting period which is finally completed, after all the healthy and beautiful grapes have been taken in and we can say: it’s been a nice harvest.

The Zibibbo bunches that were harvested from the rows of this estate have reached the right degree of drying. The grapes have lost about 75% of their weight, but all the juice remains in their soft core. These rich and concentrated raisins are then de-stemmed and taken to the cellar, where by infusing in the wine they will give body and soul to L’Ecrù, L’Ocra and Passulè.

Infusion is a unique technical choice unparalleled in Sicily that allows Firriato to stand out, with less sugar and more elegance.

Mosè is the man of raisining: from sunrise to sunset, he lays bunches of freshly picked Zibibbo grapes, he checks those already lying to reach the right degree of raisining and, above all, he makes sure the process is homogeneous. Drying the bunches in the sun and the wind requires precision and dexterity to turn the grapes over so that they can slowly change colour, lose water, concentrate their juice and substances that are found in the final product. Our Mosè, keeper of the “Garden of raisining,” has managed all of this delicate process.  The last act in Borgo Guarini is to collect the drying racks on which the grapes are laid out and to keep them in a cool, dry place inside a warehouse. The harvest for Mosè has been longer than usual, the temperatures cooler than usual, resulting in an extension of the raisining process. He has carried out his precision work with great care and patience, day by day, with no time off on either Saturdays and Sundays.

The drying grapes have been monitored on a daily basis: each bunch has been checked and handled with care, to allow it to reach a consistent degree of desiccation, without rotting or substantial differences between one bunch and another.

The green gold of freshly picked Zibibbo grapes has now turned to deep bronze with bright reflections. Round juicy grapes have become small sweet raisins. As they were laid down in wooden crates, their intense, strong, unique scent was all over the place. They are the last flourish on Firriato’s 2014 vintage.

Now, the task of these raisins is to give fresh Zibibbo wine all the authentic scents from Sicilian sun, the natural sweetness of a slow raisining and the intense aromas of this wonderful land. The wine will be infused with these whole, unbroken raisins that we have looked after for almost a month, and their dark skins will release all their aromatic components. This is what L’Ecru means for us: the end-result of unwavering commitment to a dessert wine that combines the natural acidity of freshly-made wine with the sweetness of infusion.

We are the only ones to create the combination of raisins and wine.

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