Sicilian Stone and Sea: The 2023 Mortellito 'Cala Iancu' Bianco
The 2023 Mortellito 'Cala Iancu' Bianco is a wine shaped as much by place as by hand — a precise, mineral-driven white that channels the windswept limestone soils of Sicily’s Val di Noto. This is a landscape of stark beauty in the island’s southeast, where chalky earth meets the Ionian Sea and native grape varieties thrive under intense sun and cooling maritime breezes. From this unique terroir, winemaker Dario Serrentino produces wines that are deeply expressive yet restrained, focused, and unmistakably Sicilian.
‘Cala Iancu’ is a blend of Grillo and Catarratto — two ancient, indigenous varieties that, in Dario’s hands, shed the weight and oxidation they often carry elsewhere. Having spent one day on full skin contact, the wine is still linear and stony, with a palpable tension that seems to hum beneath flavors of citrus rind, crushed herbs, and sea salt. The skin contact lends little color, but also a bit of richness on the palette that is quite inviting. Serrentino farms organically, working only with native yeasts and eschewing fining and filtering, allowing the character of his vines and the soils beneath them to emerge without adornment.
This is not a flashy wine, but one that rewards attention. Cala Iancu is a reminder of the continuing evolution of Sicily as a fine wine producer: the wildness of its native varieties, the clarity of its landscapes, and the handful of growers like Serrentino who translate both with honesty and grace. There’s very little of this wine made, and even less that reaches beyond Italy. I personally stand behind this quite strongly.
