Colomba Bianca Kore Zibibbo 2025
£12.75
The wine
A sensational white with vibrant aromas of white peach and sun-ripened citrus, and perfumed notes of orange blossom and delicate jasmine. Aromatic and elegant on the palate, with just a touch of almond on the finish.
Kore is the premium organic range, named after the goddess also known as Persephone, whose myth is set in Sicily. Zibibbo, or Muscat of Alexandria, is given more careful handling here: the aromatics are unmistakable, but the wine is fully dry, which makes it far more useful at the table than the grape's reputation suggests.
The producer
Colomba Bianca
View all Colomba Bianca winesEstablished in 1970, Colomba Bianca is the largest grower cooperative in Sicily and the biggest producer of organic wine in Italy. More than 1,800 hectares are farmed organically, with a further 7,500 planted to indigenous and international varieties across the west of the island.
Sicily is well suited to organic growing for reasons that have nothing to do with fashion. The climate is hot and dry, humidity is low and the sea breezes keep the vineyards ventilated, so the fungal pressures that make organic viticulture difficult in northern Europe are largely absent. What the island has instead is a wealth of native grapes: Grillo and Inzolia for whites, Nero d'Avola for reds, Zibibbo which is Muscat of Alexandria, and Carricante and Nerello Mascalese from the slopes of Etna.
Despite the scale, the stated philosophy is micro-viticulture and micro-winemaking, working parcel by parcel rather than blending by the tank. Head winemaker Mattia Filippi tailors the range across five specialist wineries, and the results are consistently better than the cooperative model usually suggests.
