ONLINE TASTING: Fine Wine - Donnafugata of Sicily with Giovanni Masucci

PLEASE NOTE: If you book after 12pm on 1st April, tasting kits are not guaranteed to arrive before the live tasting. They will be posted out as soon as possible. As a reminder, anyone registered for this tasting will also have access to the tasting recording (from the next working day), so if you are worried about not receiving your kit in time, rest assured you will be able to watch the recording at any time that is convenient for you.

On this special evening we welcome the Donnafugata’s Giovanni Masucci to West London Wine School online to lead a tasting from this iconic Sicilian estate.

The winery was established in 1983, when the experienced winegrowing couple Giacomo and Gabriella Rallo decided to invest in a new Sicilian project that they called “Donnafugata.” Their vision was to create a contemporary winegrowing operation based around three sites in western Sicily and to produce a range of international and indigenous variety wines to showcase the potential of Sicily. Giovanni will expertly guide us all through a selection of six world-class wines that explain the romantic story of Donnafugata including wines such as Etna Rosso, produced on the slopes of the active volcano and the Passito di Pantelleria, the iconic and delicious sweet wine crafted on the hot wind-swept island close to Africa.

Donnafugata

The Rallo family has made wine in Marsala since 1851 and their ancient cellars tunnel beneath the city. They were one of the first families to begin making high quality table wine when sales of traditional Marsala started to decline, launching the Donnafugata label in 1983 and championing the potential of the region's native varieties. Today, Donnafugata has four estates in Sicily: a modern winery and 283 hectares at Contessa Entellina in the hills east of Marsala; 36 hectares in Vittoria to the south eastern point of the island; 68 hectares on the island of Pantelleria; and 18 hectares on the slopes of Etna. Donnafugata means 'fleeing woman' and is a reference to Queen Maria Carolina, who escaped the court of Naples in the early 19th century with her husband, Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, when Napoleon's troops arrived. The couple took refuge in Sicily at the Santa Margherita Belice palace, also the favourite residence of celebrated writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and depicted on the 'Mille e una Notte' label.

Tasting Date: Thursday 7th April 2022 at 6:30pm (the tasting will last approximately 1.5 - 2 hours)

TASTING FEE STRUCTURE:

For this special two-hour tasting, an exclusive tasting kit is included in the listed price which includes a 75ml tasting sample of each wine, as well as tasting mat, tasting note paper and pen. Note: Tasting kits will be despatched to attendees within the week leading up to the tasting. 

Tasting kit delivery can be made to anywhere within the UK. Currently deliveries to outside the UK are not available. 

DON'T WANT TO RECEIVE A TASTING KIT? We understand that not everyone will want to receive the wine samples, and would rather just register to participate in the online evening without the wines. That is absolutely fine! The fee to just register for this evening without receiving a tasting kit is £10. Just enter the promotional code: 65REGONLY when checking out to ensure you just pay the registration cost. 

Tasting Kit: What's Included:

• 75ml tasting sample of each wine (6 in total) contained in a sterilised glass bottle and preserved with an inert gas (designed specifically for wine preservation)
• Tasting mat
• Tasting note sheet
• West London Wine School pen

TASTING FORMAT:

Donnafugata's Giovanni Masucci and West London Wine School's Jimmy Smith will host this exclusive tasting live at 6:30pm on Thursday 7th April 2022. This single-evening tasting will be approximately 1.5 - 2 hours in length. 

Unable to commit on the evening? No problem! Anyone registered for this tasting will gain access to the video recording of the live event, so you can always revisit any of these at anytime in the future - whether its because you missed participating in the live evening or if you want to revisit the presentation at a later date.

Wines Included in Tasting Kit (75ml samples of 6 wines):

• 2021 `Sur Sur` Grillo , Donnafugata, Sicily, Italy
• 2020 `Vigna di Gabri` , Donnafugata, Sicily, Italy
• 2019 `Bell'Assai` Frappato di Vittoria, Donnafugata, Sicily, Italy
• 2017 `Sul Vulcano` Etna Rosso Nerello Mascalese, Donnafugata, Sicily, Italy
• 2017 `Mille e Una Notte`, Donnafugata, Sicily, Italy
• 2019 `Ben Ryé` Passito di Pantelleria, Donnafugata, Sicily, Italy