Elios is the story of two friends who walked away from jobs that left them unsatisfied to rebuild something real on their families' land. Nicola and Guido wanted wine rooted in the culture and soil of Sicily, and they have made it on their own terms.
Backstory
Nicola and Guido founded Elios in 2015, restoring their families' farmland to its former glory and turning their passion for natural wine into a working farm. The project grew out of a desire to create something authentic, drawn directly from the land they grew up on.
The Region
Elios sits in the hills of Alcamo, between Palermo and Trapani in western Sicily. It is classic Sicilian country, warm and sun-soaked, where the two have committed to working only with native grape varieties.
Vineyards and Farming
Elios is a mixed farm in the old Sicilian sense, producing not only wine but also olive oil and honey on the property. The growing is low-intervention, free of chemicals and additives, and the estate opens its vineyards to visitors for tours and tastings.
Winemaking
In the Elios cellar the pair follow a low-intervention path, eschewing chemicals and additives so the indigenous grapes can speak plainly. Some reds are aged in chestnut, and their traditional-method sparkling rests more than 24 months on the lees.
The Wines
The Elios range is built entirely on native Sicilian grapes: a glou-glou style light red from Nerello Mascalese, a chestnut-aged red from Nero d'Avola, an orange wine from Catarratto, and a long-aged traditional-method sparkling, also from Catarratto.
