Terzavia Cuvée VS (d2024)

Terzavia is the De Bartoli family's metodo classico, made in Marsala from Grillo - the "third way" for the grape, after fortified Marsala and dry still white. The Cuvee VS is a distinct bottling from the vintage-dated Terzavia: a multi-vintage blend, and the initials point to Vecchio Samperi, the estate's oxidative unfortified flagship, a small measure of which goes in at tirage. The base is Grillo from Contrada Samperi, planted in 1996, wild-yeast fermented in 500-litre barrels and held around a year on its lees before tirage.

The signature is in how the second fermentation is set off: instead of the usual liqueur of sugar and yeast, De Bartoli adds fresh Grillo must from the latest harvest, so the whole wine is grape and nothing else. It is disgorged by hand with no dosage. The Cuvee VS spends around thirty months on the lees after tirage, against a minimum of eighteen for the standard Terzavia; this release was tiraged in 2021 and disgorged in 2024. The project belongs to Renato De Bartoli and dates to around 2010, the first commercial release drawn from the 2011 harvest.