Contessa Entellina

Contessa Entellina is a small Italian wine DOC on the island of Sicily. Created in 1993 it covers red, white and rosé plus late-harvest sweet wines from a small area 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Palermo.

The DOC is named after the eponymous historic commune in the far southwest of the Palermo province. Fruit for Contessa Entellina wines are produced exclusively in that commune.

The standard Contessa Entellina Rosso and Rosato wines must feature 50 percent or more of Nero d'Avola, Sicily's flagship red grape, and/or Syrah. Any other red grapes may account for the balance.

The DOC's bianco wines, which are made from a minimum of 50 percent Ansonica (aka Inzolia). The same rule applies to vendemmiatardiva sweet wines. Grapes for the latter must be left on the vine until at least October 1.

Alongside the standard rosso, rosato and bianco wines are no fewer than 12 varietal titles, denoting wines made from at least 85 percent of the stated variety. Unusually for Italian varietal wines, in the case of the five reds, the remaining 15 percent may only be of one or more of the other four grapes.

Any red Contessa Entellina wine qualifies for the designation riserva if it undergoes two full years of aging prior to commercial release, six months of which must be in barrel.

Only 20 hectares (49 acres) of vines were recorded under the DOC in 2017. Output was 14,300 cases in the same year. Most, if not all, of this is made by leading Sicilian producer Donnafugata, which has a large estate here making wine under several appellations including Sicilia DOC.

Close (esc)

Follow us

Thank you for

Age verification

By clicking enter you are verifying that you are legally old enough to consume alcohol.

Search

Shopping Cart

Your cart is currently empty.
Shop now