Let's leave it to Margaret of Hibiscus!

The island of Ustica is a gem of volcanic rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its lava comes from deeper layers of the earth's mantle than the neighbouring islands. It is a lush island of wild nature but also of ancient agriculture that has shaped the landscape. Skilled farmers have been able to exploit the fertility of the island's soils in dialogue with the imposing nature of sun, wind and sea.

An agricultural tradition that is grafted between the influences of the Aeolian settlers who inhabited it at the end of the 18th century and its proximity to western Sicily, from which many of the historically cultivated vines, particularly zibibibbo, originate. This historicity is also recognised in the IGT specification that allows the cultivation of zibibbo not only in the province of Trapani, but also in Ustica. On this island, too, tradition has it that zibibbo was grown as a sapling and used together with other vines to produce more aromatic wines. The Hibiscus winery, the only winery on the island, has been experimenting with espalier cultivation and the production of a Passito wine for about thirty years. Although inspired by the techniques of the better-known Passito di Pantelleria, it has found an autonomous identity. Zhabib is the only Passito di zibibbo produced on an Italian island other than Pantelleria, from which it differs both in terms of its oenological characteristics, as it falls outside the DOC Pantelleria specification, and its viticultural aspects.

In fact, the vineyard, as already mentioned, is espalier trained and is very close to the sea considering the very small size of the island. Ustica is a small mosaic in which the tesserae are plots of around 1,000 square metres, surrounded by dry stone walls and prickly pear hedges, in which vines, orchards, arable land and Mediterranean scrub alternate and whose distance from the sea does not exceed 300 metres. A treasure chest of biodiversity where you can find numerous varieties of legumes, fruits and vegetables. We are a long way from the large expanses of bush-trained vineyards that define Pantelleria's famous rural landscape. The original clone of the usticese zibibbo is formed by a scattered cluster that ripens evenly, tinged with a characteristic golden colour.

From an oenological point of view, the most evident aspect is the explosion of intense aromas reminiscent of the splendours of Arabian pastries, from dehydrated apricots to dates, without ever reaching overripe fruit. This is counterbalanced by a freshness that balances an important sugar load, making it very pleasant, with an alcohol content of around 13.5 degrees. The early harvesting of the raisining grapes allows both sugars and acids to be concentrated, resulting in a pleasant harmonic sensation that makes it easy to drink even after the first glass. 
It is a versatile wine, which marries both the classic categories of end-of-meal or meditation wine but also lends itself to daring pairings with intensely flavoured, semi-mature, mature or blue-veined cheeses, if desired accompanied by honeys and jams in which to rediscover the aromas of the wine.

Margherita