OUR STORY
The GIASIRA winery is located in a corner of rare beauty of Sicily.
Giovanni Boroli, a Piedmontese business man in love with Sicily, and his wife Isabella, a Venetian with a father from Siracusa, bought the estate in 2004 and began the restoration of the ancient rural farm, to make it their residence, immersed in the rural Ibleo landscape.
The estate GIASIRA extends for about 130 hectares at an altitude of 180-250 meters above sea level, stretching in the territories of Siracusa and Ragusa.
Outlined by traditional drystone walls, the GIASIRA estate is located between the UNESCO-listed towns of Noto and Modica.
The name GIASIRA, locally splet Gisira or Gesira, comes from the word of Arabic origin that means “Island”, as they called the area where the estate is located, isolated by the deep canyons which run through the Iblean Upland.
Inside the estate, in the canyon of Cava Paradiso, Prainito river flows and there are many ancient olive and carob trees, and also almond and citrus fruits trees, which characterize the agricultural production of this part of Sicily.
Giovanni Boroli immediately understood that these calcareous soils and the climatic conditions of the territory were the right conditions to produce quality grapes.
So, starting from 2005, with the technical support of the winemaker Gianfranco Cordero, he decided to plant some traditional vines of the area: Nero d’Avola and Moscato bianco, with other native Sicilian vines such as Grillo, Catarratto and Nerello Mascalese and a small part international vines such as Merlot and Chardonnay.
The principles of sustainable agriculture and the respect for the environment represent the farm philosophy and the guiding thread of all GIASIRA production. The farming practices are certified as organic agriculture.
Giovanni’s intuition, combined with meticulous care of the vineyards, the use of insects for integrated pest control and skilful work in the cellar, have given a production of organic wines that fully express integrity, elegance and all the love and respect we have for this corner of Sicily.
THE FARM
The agricultural vocation of the territory is proven by the numerous secular trees, which represent the most important agricultural productions of eastern Sicily.
In the 130 hectares of the estate there are thousands of trees; about 3000 olive trees of local varieties and many centuries-old carob trees, over 2000 almond trees and hundreds of citrus trees.
The vineyard area of the farm is about 13 hectares, at an altitude of 250 meters above sea level.
The Mediterranean climate, the calcareous soils, the ventilation and the day-night temperature range with a meticulous daily care of the vineyards, are the prerequisites to obtain undamaged and healthy grapes.
In 2010 the winery was built inside the estate, to vinify the grapes immediately after the harvest, made by hand, and to be able to follow all phases of winemaking at controlled temperature and with the most modern oenological equipment.
In the same period a photovoltaic system was installed, which made the winery self-sufficiency in energy.
Since 2005 all the agricultural production is organic and certified by ICEA (Institute for Ethical and Environmental Certification). Since 2015 GIASIRA wines are labelled as “Organic Wines”.