How Papa Vince Wine was born
Once upon a time, between the sixteenth and seventeenth century, on an island far, far away called Sicily, at the foot of Castle Rampinzeri, the small village of Santa Ninfa was born.
Throughout the decades, this ancient village was ruled by the Arias Giardina and the De Stefanis’ families, who oversaw huge tracts of land stretching from Trapani to Palermo. Colonel De Stefanis governed the fief, who at the time, had employed almost all the inhabitants of the country to work for him.
The labourers took care of everything, each one completing their own tasks. Some looked after the cavalry’s horses, others took care of the Colonel’s personal affairs, others looked after his children and still others were exclusively dedicated to farming the fields.
The olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields were entirely managed by the farm workers and among them was Papa Vince, whose real name was Vincenzo, but everyone in Santa Ninfa nicknamed him Nzulu.
As a child, Vincenzo worked for Colonel De Stefanis. In addition to brushing the cavalry’s horses, his greatest passion was caring for the Colonel’ olive groves; from the cultivation to the harvesting to the milling of the olives into exceptional oil ready for selling!
The management of these enormous tracts of land by the landowners lasted until the first half of the 20th century, when they were forced by a newly instituted law, to give a portion of their lands and possessions to the labourers, thereby losing their influence.
This is how Vincenzo inherited a small plot of land and continued to manage his own activity as olive grower.
Between the 1800’s and 1900’s many events unfolded! One thing however, stood the test of time: his passion for his own land and profession as olive cultivator never faded and were passed with pride as a family heirloom, from generation to generation, until today.
Papa Vince’s love for cultivating olives and selling its oil was so strong, that his own daughter Santina inherited that same passion along with the family business.
Since she was a child, Santina admired her dad and all his hard work and dedication to the land and the olive tree groves. As she got older, she decided, together with her husband Gaspare Giaramida, to create one of the most important and innovative olive oil mills in the Santa Ninfa area which is now run by their eldest son (Vito).
Vito grew up sharing a strong passion for nature and the products of his land. He nurtures a strong love for his beautiful island and every day, Vito pays tribute to his love of the land by promoting its products which are produced through his own innovation, professionalism and respect for the environment.
Although focused on his olive cultivation business, Vito’s passion for the land led him to plant a small vineyard in one of the lands inherited from his grandfather Vincenzo.
Eventually this led to Vito and some winemakers from Santa Ninfa collaborating on the same goal: to share their heritage and Sicilian wine with the whole world.
This is how the Papa Vince Wine project was born: the grapes from Vito’s land are processed at the foot of Castle Rampinzeri by these skilled winemakers, who transform grapes into a precious wine, all-natural and locally sourced.
Papa Vince Wine is not just a nice story, it’s the culmination of a dream fueled by passion for the land and respect for its heritage. It symbolizes the social redemption of hard-working but powerless men, who in the face of oppression under the feudal lords, endured until their dreams of owning their own land came true!
We are proud to tell you this story while
enjoying a glass of Papa Vince wine.
