Cantine Pepi likes to say that ''we are 99% woman enterprise" and "run by women that boldly undertake the profession of the winemaker in Sicily". The wines of Rosa Pepi and her daughter Erika come to life in Mazzarone, in the area of Licodia Eubea, in the hills along the Dirillo River in southeast Sicily near Ragusa and Vittoria. Rosa is the fourth generation of her family to lead the estate, whose 30 hectares of vineyards are planted to mostly indigenous Sicilian varietals: Nero d'Avola and Frappato for the reds and Insolia, Grillo and Catarratto for the whites. All vines are dry-farmed on a mix of sand, clay and limestone soils and hand-harvested.

Traditionally, Grillo is one of the three main grapes used to make Marsala, the famous fortified wine of Sicily: it provided the full-bodied base wine, which was then blended with Catarratto and Inzolia. However, as a varietal wine, Grillo — a natural crossing of Catarratto and Muscat of Alexandria — can produce delicious, full-bodied wines with real character and intensity if treated with care in both the vineyard and cellar. Cantine Pepi's Salto is 100% Grillo grown in the hills surrounding the Dirillo River in the south-eastern part of Sicily. In the glass, the wine displays a lovely light lemon color with green highlights. The nose is engaging with marvelous aromas of white flowers, ripe citrus, sea-spray and dried herbs. On the palate, Salto is vibrant and refreshing with an impeccable balance of body, energetic acidity, flavor complexity and long, persistent finish. You may notice that the Salto label has a step by step drawing of cricket: in Italian, Grillo means cricket! Enjoy with an eggplant and zucchini pasta or swordfish with lemon and fennel.