Donnafugata

The Rallo family's history in Sicilian wine is rooted in Marsala, where the historic family cellars date back to 1851. Giacomo Rallo (1937-2016), born in Marsala as the fourth generation of that family, managed the family company from 1965 to 1970 and became its export manager. In 1983 he founded Donnafugata with his wife, Gabriella Anca, who had inherited the Contessa Entellina estate, with 40 hectares of vineyards, from her father. Gabriella chose the name, taking it from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel The Leopard: Donnafugata means 'fleeing woman' and refers to Queen Maria Carolina, who found refuge in the place that is now home to the vineyards. The same story inspired the logo, a woman's head with hair blown by the wind. Donnafugata arrived on Pantelleria in 1989, and in 1990 the couple's children, José and Antonio, joined the company. The 2016 harvest took Donnafugata to Etna and Vittoria, and Donnafugata announced the purchase of a winery on Etna's north face from a small group of grapegrowers. Gabriella Favara joined in 2022 as the sixth generation. Today José and Antonio Rallo are chief executive officers, and Antonio Rallo is co-owner of the company founded by his parents.

• 1851: the historic family cellars in Marsala are built.
• 1983: Giacomo Rallo and Gabriella Anca found Donnafugata at the Contessa Entellina estate.
• 1989: arrival on the volcanic island of Pantelleria.
• 1990: José and Antonio Rallo join the company.
• 1995: first vintage of Mille e una Notte, developed by Giacomo Rallo with oenologist Giacomo Tachis.
• 2016: the harvest takes Donnafugata to Etna and Vittoria.
• 2022: Gabriella Favara joins as the sixth generation.

José Rallo (born 1964) and Antonio Rallo (born 1967), the fifth generation, are chief executive officers of Donnafugata. Antonio, a graduate in agrarian sciences from the University of Palermo, is co-owner and a winemaker who oversees production. José performs as producer and solo vocalist in Donnafugata Music & Wine. Gabriella Anca Rallo (born 1942), co-founder, is Honorary Chairman and oversees the company's communication style. Gabriella Favara, the sixth generation, joined in 2022 and now works in the export team, focusing on trade marketing. Antonio Rallo chaired Assovini Sicilia from 2011 to 2014, helped create the Consorzio di Tutela Vini DOC Sicilia in June 2012 and has chaired it since 2012. Giacomo Rallo founded Assovini in 1998 and was its first chairman until 2001.

• José Rallo (born 1964): chief executive officer; fifth generation.
• Antonio Rallo (born 1967): chief executive officer, co-owner and winemaker overseeing production; chairman of the Consorzio di Tutela Vini DOC Sicilia since 2012.
• Gabriella Anca Rallo (born 1942): co-founder and Honorary Chairman.
• Gabriella Favara: sixth generation; joined in 2022, now in the export team.

Donnafugata's vineyards total 459 hectares across Contessa Entellina, Pantelleria, Vittoria and Etna, in 35 districts, and it uses 10 native grape varieties. Contessa Entellina, in the heart of western Sicily, is where Donnafugata began: 340 hectares of vineyards between 200 and 500 metres above sea level, on hilly clay-loam soils with subalkaline pH (7.5 to 7.9) and total limestone between 20 and 35%, planted to 19 grape varieties, 7 of them native. Average annual rainfall there over the last ten years is 670 mm. On Pantelleria, Donnafugata has 53 hectares of vineyards in 16 districts, all of a single variety, Zibibbo, between 20 and 400 metres above sea level on deep, loose volcanic sands, mostly on terraces. The vines are cultivated by hand in shallow hollows using the traditional alberello head-trained bush practice, which UNESCO inscribed in 2014 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. On Etna, Donnafugata chose the northern slope: 33 hectares in seven districts at 730 to 750 metres on sandy volcanic soil, trained as alberello or with vertical shoot positioning. The Vittoria estate in south-eastern Sicily has 33 hectares extending into the area of Acate, split into three districts at 120 to 150 metres, and its reds are built on Frappato and Nero d'Avola. The historic Marsala cellars, built in 1851 around the courtyard of a traditional Mediterranean baglio, are where the wines are aged and are Donnafugata's headquarters.

• Contessa Entellina: 340 ha at 200 to 500 m; clay-loam soils; 19 grape varieties, 7 of them native.
• Pantelleria: 53 ha of Zibibbo at 20 to 400 m; volcanic sands; 16 districts; over 40 km of dry volcanic rock walls recovered and maintained every year.
• Etna (northern slope): 33 ha at 730 to 750 m; seven districts, including Montelaguardia and Marchesa.
• Vittoria: 33 ha at 120 to 150 m; districts Bidini Soprana, Bidini Sottana and Isola.
• Marsala: historic cellars built in 1851; underground barrique cellar dug into the tuff rock in 2007, kept at 15 °C and 85% humidity.

Mille e una Notte, a Sicilia DOC Rosso from Nero d'Avola, Petit Verdot and Syrah grown on the Contessa Entellina estate and in other areas, was developed by Giacomo Rallo with oenologist Giacomo Tachis; its first vintage was 1995. Its technical sheet gives 12 months in new French oak barriques, then nearly two years in bottle. Ben Ryé, a Passito di Pantelleria DOC from Zibibbo, takes its name from the Arabic term 'Son of the Wind'. It is made by drying the grapes naturally on racks, destemming the dried grapes by hand and a winemaking procedure that lasts over a month; it then ages around 5 months in tank and at least 16 months in bottle. Tancredi, now part of the Dolce&Gabbana and Donnafugata collection, is a Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT from Cabernet Sauvignon, Nero d'Avola and Tannat, aged 14 months in oak and at least 22 months in bottle. On Etna, Sul Vulcano Rosso is an Etna Rosso DOC from Nerello Mascalese grown on the estate at Randazzo and in other areas. The two Etna crus, also from Nerello Mascalese, are Fragore, from the Montelaguardia district of Randazzo, where the vineyard sits on a 17th-century lava trail, and Contrada Marchesa, from two hectares in the Marchesa district of Castiglione di Sicilia on lava trails thousands of years old. From Vittoria come Floramundi, a Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG from Nero d'Avola and Frappato, and Bell'Assai, a Frappato di Vittoria DOC. Anthìlia, a Sicilia DOC Bianco based on Lucido (also known as Catarratto), was the first wine produced at Donnafugata. Chiarandà made its debut in 1992 as Chiarandà del Merlo, and Vigna di Gabri bears the name of Gabriella Anca Rallo.

• Mille e una Notte (Sicilia DOC Rosso): Nero d'Avola, Petit Verdot and Syrah; first vintage 1995.
• Ben Ryé (Passito di Pantelleria DOC): Zibibbo grapes dried naturally on racks.
• Tancredi (Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT): Cabernet Sauvignon, Nero d'Avola and Tannat.
• Etna: Sul Vulcano Rosso, Fragore (Montelaguardia) and Contrada Marchesa, all Etna Rosso DOC from Nerello Mascalese.
• Vittoria: Floramundi (Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG) and Bell'Assai (Frappato di Vittoria DOC).
• Anthìlia (Sicilia DOC Bianco), the first wine produced at Donnafugata; Chiarandà, which debuted in 1992 as Chiarandà del Merlo.

Donnafugata frames its approach in its own words: 'we work district by district, vine by vine, combining artisanal precision with an openness to innovation', and it calls the resulting wines 'elegant, vibrant and contemporary'. At Marsala the choice of steel, concrete, wood or glass for ageing depends on the type of grapes and the result the company wants to achieve. The Vittoria reds, Floramundi, Bell'Assai and Contesa dei Venti, are what Donnafugata calls Unusual Reds, wines to enjoy chilled. On Etna, Antonio Rallo told Wine Spectator in 2016 that Nerello Mascalese is 'a wine that has to be elegant. What is really important is not to overextract.'

• Work organised district by district and vine by vine, in the estate's own account.
• Ageing vessels of steel, concrete, wood and glass, chosen to suit the grapes and the intended result.
• Vittoria's Unusual Reds are made to be enjoyed chilled.

In 1994 Gabriella Anca Rallo met the illustrator Stefano Vitale, and the first label of their collaboration was La Fuga, dedicated to her decision to devote her life to the vineyard. Vitale's designer labels have marked Donnafugata wines for over 30 years, and the historic Marsala courtyard houses an Art Gallery of the labels and sketches. In the estate's own account, literature shapes all of its choices, from Tomasi di Lampedusa's characters Tancredi and Lighea to Sheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights. In 2002 José Rallo and her husband, Vincenzo Favara, began Donnafugata Music & Wine, which pairs each wine with a music track; it has produced three jazz albums, released in 2004, 2007 and 2022 and sung by José Rallo, and concerts at venues including the Blue Note in New York and the Acropolis Museum of Athens. In 2020 Donnafugata began a partnership with Dolce&Gabbana; the collection began with Rosa 2019 and was followed by Tancredi, Cuordilava, Isolano and Bollicina Gold, a Brut Rosé from Nerello Mascalese grown on the slopes of Mount Etna. In 2025 a partnership with Netflix for the series The Leopard produced a Special Edition Mille e una Notte 2021.

• 1994: Gabriella Anca Rallo meets illustrator Stefano Vitale; the first designer label is La Fuga.
• 2002: Donnafugata Music & Wine begins; albums in 2004, 2007 and 2022.
• 2020: the Dolce&Gabbana and Donnafugata collection begins with Rosa 2019.
• 2025: Special Edition Mille e una Notte 2021 for the Netflix series The Leopard.

Donnafugata took its first sustainability steps on Pantelleria in 1989. It avoids chemical herbicides and fertilisers, produces clean energy, uses sustainable packaging and calculates its Carbon and Water Footprint. Two photovoltaic systems totalling 68 kW were installed at Contessa Entellina in 2002 and 2008, and a 50 kW system at Marsala in 2007; its photovoltaic systems now have a total installed capacity of 537 kW. Its farming includes drip irrigation, integrated pest management with pheromone traps, and natural areas that account for more than one fifth of the company's total estate. At Vittoria it uses no herbicides and applies regulated deficit irrigation; on Etna it is restoring the alberello training in old vineyards where it had been replaced by spurred cordon. On Pantelleria it has recovered, and maintains every year, over 40 km of dry volcanic rock walls; in 1999 it restored a Zibibbo vineyard with ungrafted vines over 100 years old, and since 2010 it has kept an experimental vineyard of 33 Zibibbo biotypes. At Contessa Entellina an experimental vineyard of 19 native varieties dates from 2009. Donnafugata joined Fondazione SOStain Sicilia in 2021. It has replaced a large proportion of its 550 g bottles with 410 g and 360 g bottles, and in 2023 it introduced the Nomacorc Ocean closure, made from recycled plastic collected in coastal areas at risk of marine pollution.

• 1989: first sustainability steps, on Pantelleria.
• 2002 and 2008: two photovoltaic systems, 68 kW in total, at Contessa Entellina; 2007: a 50 kW system at Marsala.
• 2021: joins Fondazione SOStain Sicilia.
• 2023: introduces the Nomacorc Ocean closure.

Primary sources (Donnafugata's own site): https://www.donnafugata.it/en/roots/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/estates/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/estates/contessa-entellina/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/estates/pantelleria/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/estates/etna/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/estates/vittoria/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/estates/marsala/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/designer-labels/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/music-wine/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/the-wines/dolcegabbana/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/mille-e-una-notte/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/ben-rye/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/tancredi-dolcegabbana-e-donnafugata/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/sul-vulcano-rosso/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/fragore/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/contrada-marchesa-etna-rosso-doc/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/floramundi/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/bellassai/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/product/anthilia/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/sustainability/certification/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/journal/sustainability/sustainable-agriculture/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/journal/sustainability/virtuous-practices/, https://www.donnafugata.it/en/journal/sustainability/to-respect-nature/. Official source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Pantelleria vite ad alberello element (https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-agricultural-practice-of-cultivating-the-vite-ad-alberello-head-trained-bush-vines-of-the-community-of-pantelleria-00720). Secondary source: Wine Spectator (Robert Camuto, 26 September 2016, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/sicilian-winery-donnafugata-on-the-move-to-etna). Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.