Le Casematte

Italy, Sicily
https://lecasematte.it/en/homepage-english/

There can't be too many wine estates named after WWII gun emplacements, but the two concrete 'casemattes' among the vines designed to protect the Strait of Messina have indeed inspired the name of Le Casematte - "a place where grapevines have supplanted death" they say on their web-site, probably quite profound. Le Casematte was founded in 2008 by former Italian International footballer Andrea Barzagli and Gianfranco Sabbatino, a former accountant who now runs the winery on a day to day basis. The vines are in the north of Sicily on the Faro peninsular overlooking the sea, with vineyards rising to 500m above sea-level, and northerly exposures helping to mitigate the southern sun-shine. They are committed to organic farming here - although have yet to sign up for certification.