Belli Folli

Belli Folli is Valle dell’Acate’s ode to the wilder side of eastern Sicily — a project launched in 2018 from the family’s estate in Acate, in the province of Ragusa, and built around a single idea: that beauty and a little madness have always lived side by side here. The name itself plays on that tension — belli and folli, beautiful and mad — echoing the light and shadow, the calm sea and the sudden storm, the hush before the scirocco wind rolls in, that define this corner of the island.

Each wine in the range wears its own face, quite literally: the labels are drawn from the mascheroni, the carved stone masks that peer out from beneath the balconies of Ragusa Ibla’s baroque palaces — weathered, expressive, a little theatrical, exactly like the wines themselves. Five bottlings make up the collection so far, each one tuned to a different mood: a citrus-and-jasmine Insolia built for easy, aromatic sipping; a velvety, harmonious Nero d’Avola with real tannic backbone; and a fresh, red-berried Rosato di Frappato perfect for aperitivo hour, among others.

Gaetana Jacono, at the helm of Valle dell’Acate, has described Bellifolli as something the family built almost instinctively — a way of giving shape to a year of learning and change, and sharing it in the glass. The result is a range that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but takes Sicily — its history, its contrasts, its restless spirit — completely seriously. Pour a glass, and meet the beautifully mad side of the island.