Biography
The experience of Alberto and Diego Cusumano in the field of wine is not recent history, but goes back some forty years when their father, proprietor of vat landed holdings in various parts of Sicily, produced concentrated must for export to northern Italy.
Wine itself was something which arrived later, in the 1980’s, when the Cusumano realized that the future needed to be planned and that large-scale production had little future. It was then that a process of selection began to be practiced, planting the finest clones of the traditional grape varieties of Sicily, Insolia and Nero d’Avola, and the first plantings of such international varieties as Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay.
Truly fundamental changes only began in the mid-1990’s, when Diego and Alberto Cusumano joined the family firm. The objective of the brothers, however, was not to perpetuate the ideas of their father but to base their work on quality wine.
Dynamic entrepreneurs, Diego and Alberto work with the advantage of a very large patrimony: 1000 acres of vineyards divided among seven different estates, for the most part in the finest areas of Sicily such as Alcamo, Monreale, Partinico, Ficuzza, and Bufera, vineyards which yield an annual production of two million bottles.
Their young firm has, in a short space of time, become an important market phenomenon with a world-wide reputation stretching from Russia to the USA based a happy combination of modern technology and territorial character. One of the most representative wines, Angimbè, a blend of 70% Insolia and 30% Chardonnay, was selected by the Wine Spectator in 2004 as one of the 100 finest wines of the world and, in 2008, as one of the finest values in Italian wine.
The two crus of the house are unquestionably Noà, a blend of 40% Nero d’Avola, 30% Cabernet, and 30% Merlot, and Sàgana, 100% Nero d’Avola, both “three goblet” wines of the authoritative Gambero Rosso guide to Italian wine.
The most important objective at the moment is to create a solid image of the wines and the firm on an international level, the emblem of a Sicily of true quality. Both Diego and Alberto dedicate a large part of their time to the realization of this goal.