40 YEARS FOR SICILY’S PIONEERING WHITE FOR AGING
Forty years of history, emotion, and craftsmanship captured in a single bottle. Nozze d’Oro by Tasca d’Almerita was born from a gesture of love and, over time, has become an icon of Sicilian winemaking. “Dedicated to my wife with immense love.” These words, still featured on the label today, mark the origin of this wine. In 1984, Count Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita created it to celebrate his fiftieth wedding anniversary with his wife, Franca. The first toast was made on June 3, 1985, at the family’s Regaleali estate—a private homage that no one could have imagined would evolve, four decades later, into one of Sicily’s most enduring and distinctive white wines.
From the outset, the vision was to transform a family milestone into a wine that speaks of place, memory, and tradition. To achieve this, Giuseppe Tasca built Nozze d’Oro around two complementary varieties that embody both heritage and innovation: Inzolia, a historic grape of Regaleali known for its structure and balance, and Sauvignon Tasca, a unique estate biotype selected from Sauvignon Blanc vines introduced in the 1920s. The interplay of these two varieties—Inzolia’s floral, citrusy brightness and Sauvignon Tasca’s fuller, rounder character—creates a blend with both tension and harmony, a “dual wine” designed to unite past and future. The grapes come from two historic vineyards within the Regaleali estate. Vigna Barbabietole, planted in 1966, lies above 500 meters on deep loamy-clay soils, low in phosphorus but rich in potassium and magnesium. These conditions produce structured, long-lived grapes, supported by roots that can extend more than a meter deep. Vigna Santa Tea, by contrast, rises between 650 and 680 meters, its sandy-calcareous soils rich in stones and basking in optimal sunlight. This is where the Sauvignon Tasca selection was planted in 1998, the result of decades of observation, clonal selection, and adaptation. This estate-specific biotype is now recognized for its distinctive aromatic signature and remarkable aging potential.
Nozze d’Oro also reflects the estate’s pioneering research in both vineyard and cellar. A geo-pedological zoning project launched in the 1990s allowed Tasca d’Almerita to map the estate’s soils and microclimates, ensuring each parcel expresses its fullest potential. Clonal selection of Sauvignon Tasca has safeguarded a unique genetic heritage, while since 2007, the use of indigenous yeasts isolated in the winery has further deepened the wine’s connection to its place of origin, enhancing complexity and stylistic precision.
At its debut, Nozze d’Oro was a bold statement for Sicily: a white wine crafted to age, fermented and matured solely in stainless steel, without the influence of oak. The goal was to preserve varietal purity and vibrant acidity, letting time and careful lees aging build complexity. The winemaking approach involves separate harvests—Sauvignon Tasca at the end of August and Inzolia in early September—followed by a brief cold maceration to extract delicate aromatics. Fermentation takes place at low temperatures, and the wine rests on fine lees for several months before bottling, where it continues to evolve gracefully.
In the glass, Nozze d’Oro is a wine of both precision and depth. In its youth, it shines with a bright straw-yellow color and offers notes of apple, pear, white peach, melon, citrus zest, and hints of sage and white flowers. On the palate, it is taut, saline, and refreshing. With age, it develops a layered complexity, revealing nuances of rosemary honey, toasted almonds, beeswax, and subtle mineral tones. The texture grows richer and creamier, yet its vibrant acidity and long, savory finish remain intact—a testament to its ability to evolve beautifully over time.