by Umberto Gambino
On the terraced hill overlooking the Aeolian Islands, the Verzeras have taken the appellation’s name literally: Faro. And they’ve put it on their labels, alongside the family’s historic cars.
The town is Gesso (in these parts they call them “villages”), and that’s not a metaphor: the mineral is there, in the soil, and ends up in the glass. You get there by climbing up the coastal highway 113, from the hamlet of Orto Liuzzo, the northernmost point of the municipality of Messina, and at a certain point the hill opens up into cavea—terrace after terrace, all the way to the stream. Two hundred meters above sea level, 230 at the highest point, facing south, southeast, and southwest, the Aeolian Islands are visible. On clear days, you can see the volcanic line: Etna and Stromboli—all the islands in between—watching each other from afar, each with its own plume.
It’s here that Stelio and Maria Luisa Verzera (both in their early thirties) decided to become winemakers. He, a business administration graduate, is the administrator: strategy and daily problem-solving. She, an architect, sits among the Donne del Vino (Women of Wine) and designed the brand’s identity. Behind them are their parents, whose role their father, Totino, dismisses with a laugh: “I’m the dad,” only to remain involved in every discussion while their mother, Ketty, decides which wines to make. Behind them, three generations of another family passion: cars. The vintage cars from the family collection have ended up on the labels, with their headlights shooting out two beams of light framing the name of the wine. The visual play is a declaration of intent: the name is called Faro, and they’ve taken it literally. The ancestral coat of arms remains in one corner. Verzera, in short, is a fine family from Messina who, five years ago, decided to make wine very seriously and with great passion.
The vineyard that bewitched them
The vines were already there, planted between 2006 and 2008 by an owner who made the Faro for his agriturismo and friends: a wine that had never really hit the market. The Verzeras first rented, then bought in 2021. From three hectares of vineyards, they increased to five with a land consolidation, new plantings arrived, and above all, more Nerello Mascalese, which will become the backbone of the white wines as well. Towards the sea, they planted olive trees to act as a windbreak; the rest is completed with pomegranates and prickly pears, which here are not decoration but comfort.
The soil is medium-textured on predominantly chalky terraces, and the division by exposure requires harvesting in shifts, with the agronomist and winemaker discussing each block. The sirocco and mistral winds do the rest: constant ventilation, healthy grapes, and a stable acidity. The farm is certified organic and operates with a weather station that dictates the timing of interventions—agriculture 4.0 applied to five hectares, which speaks volumes about how the scale of the profession has changed.
The smallest and most sought-after DOC in Sicily
Faro is a tiny, ancient appellation. The regulations date back to 1976 and cover the territory of the municipality of Messina alone, from Ponte Gallo to Giampilieri: Nerello Mascalese from 45 to 60 percent, Nerello Cappuccio from 15 to 30 percent, Nocera between 5 and 10 percent, plus up to 15 percent Nero d’Avola. In the 19th century, this wine was exported to Bordeaux and Burgundy to complement French reds; today, the entire appellation covers about forty hectares. The Verzeras’ calculations are ruthless and precise: nineteen certified estates, eighteen active, and seventeen that truly complete the cycle from vine to bottle. And some claim DOC status every other year. The Consortium was founded in 2002 and currently has eighteen members; Stelio Verzera is the newly elected president.
Wine tourism to enhance the territory
The cellar in the vineyard, as originally planned, couldn’t be built due to an underlying fault. So the Verzeras purchased a building a hundred meters away and repurposed everything: a cellar on the ground floor—steel, tonneaux, and, starting this year, amphorae—a tasting room on the first floor, and ten suites on the two upper levels. The renovated ruin in the vineyard remains the vantage point for tastings. Sixteen thousand bottles a year, with 2023 cut by a third due to a disastrous vintage, and wine tourism as the true driving force of sales: visits by reservation, morning and evening, small groups driven through the rows in a nine-seater Defender, platters of Nebrodi black pigs, and locally sourced cheeses. In Sicily, forty percent of those who visit a winery buy at least one bottle, fifteen percent at least a case: at wine shop prices and without commission, the margins are changing.
Four wines, one philosophy: never above 13 degrees
Under the direction of Marsala winemaker Nicola Centonze and Etna agronomist Marco Gumina, the line is clear: freshness, drinkability, and low alcohol. No “heavy” wines, to use the house’s own words. Four labels so far.
Ibbisu Rosato 2025 – 100% Nerello Mascalese — “ibbisu” is chalk in the Messina dialect, just as “gypso” is in ancient Greek: the same word twice, in two languages that have coexisted here for millennia. On the nose, orange, peach, rose, mulberry, and calamint; on the palate, it’s fresh and smooth, with a salty, iodine note that hints at the sea a kilometer away as the crow flies. An unpretentious aperitif.
Ibbisu Bianco 2025 – Eighty percent Nerello Mascalese vinified as a white wine, twenty percent Moscato. Citron and rose petals, the aromatics of Moscato that are noticeable without overpowering, followed by spice, fresh fruit, and a distinct minerality. Long. It’s also the best-selling bottle: a significant detail, because it reveals where consumption is going.
Phôs Bianco 2023 – Nerello Mascalese with twenty percent Chardonnay from western Sicily, vinified in French oak tonneaux; the wine will be aged in truncated cone-shaped vats and a few months in amphorae. 12.5% ABV. A smoky note recedes on the nose, followed by jasmine, orange blossom, and lime; the palate is fresh, savory, and long. Less typical of the area, and it’s noticeable: here, stylistic research takes precedence over geography. The name comes from the Greek “light” and from a 1952 MV Agusta Sport. It was the first Verzera wine to hit the market: 2022 vintage, debut in 2023.
Gypsos Faro DOC 2022. The crown jewel, and the only red wine with a designation of origin (the other three wines are IGT). Fresh red fruit, spices, tobacco, leather, balsamic vinegar, and medicinal herbs brought by the wood, over a pronounced minerality that is the signature of the chalky soil. On the palate, it is soft, fresh, and savory, with silky tannins. Twelve months in stainless steel, then six months in 500-liter tonneaux of two different toastings, and then another six months in bottle. The 2021 vintage was included in the 5StarWines — The Book selection at Vinitaly 2025, the only Faro DOC in the guide.
The point
The question that hovers over all the tiny denominations is always the same: is staying small a curse or a choice? At Gesso, they responded by opening up the winery to all aspects—vineyard, cellar, hospitality, storytelling—and targeting a consumer who isn’t young by age but by their drinking style. Conviviality, a light sip, context. The rest, as the Verzeras say, is up to the setting: a terraced mountainside that slopes into the sea, with two volcanoes in the background. That’s no small thing to put on the label.