Valle dell’Acate ‘Zagra’ Grillo Sicilia 2023

Gaetana Jacono is the superstar female winemaker who single-handedly transformed Sicily’s reputation on the world stage. When she started showing at VinItaly, there were just 31 Sicilian producers. Now there’s an entire pavilion dedicated to the island, and Jacono is an enormous reason why.

She abandoned her pharmacy career in 2000 to take over the family estate, and what she’s accomplished in two decades is nothing short of revolutionary. This is a woman who became the brand ambassador for Cerasuolo di Vittoria and turned Valle dell’Acate into the benchmark by which every other Sicilian producer is measured.

The estate sits in the southeast corner of Sicily between the Iblei mountains and the Mediterranean, where six generations of the Jacono family have worked the Dirillo valley. Their 80 hectares of organically cultivated vineyards produce wines with incredible elegance and sense of place – no easy feat on an island where many producers chase quantity over quality. Jacono’s commitment to showcasing native varieties like Grillo has elevated not just her own wines, but the entire perception of what Sicilian wine can achieve.