From Porto Alegre to Montallegro
Barbara Schapke is one of Sicily's most exciting new natural winemakers — a Brazilian vigneron who traded corporate wine communications for the hands-on reality of vineyard and cellar. Founded in 2022 in the tiny agricultural town of Montallegro, Agrigento province, her Allegre label is a clever nod to her two homes: Porto Alegre and Montallegro. What began as 500 playful bottles made at a friend's winery has grown to 1,200 bottles by 2023, with a portfolio spanning whites from Grecanico to Catarratto to Carricante, reds from old Etna vines, and an ancestral method sparkling rosé from Nerello Mascalese. All wines are made with indigenous yeasts, zero additives, and minimal intervention — a philosophy born from years inside the corporate wine world and refined by the freedom of independence. This is not a winery built on inheritance or tradition; it is a winery built on storytelling, courage, and the belief that terroir speaks loudest when we listen.
From Communication to Creation
The Barbara Schapke story begins in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where she studied Public Relations at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Initially drawn to gastronomy, she pivoted to communication — a field that would eventually become her bridge into the wine world. Her passion for storytelling led her to pursue international opportunities, including a year of volunteer work across Europe, where she absorbed languages, cultures, and the diverse expressions of European wine.
In Italy, she completed a master's in Wine Culture, Communication and Management — a formal pivot that placed her at the intersection of wine and narrative. Her first steps in the industry were at Cantina Barbera, an artisanal Sicilian winery in Menfi run by Marilena Barbera. There, during harvest, she learned the fundamentals of hands-on winemaking — not from textbooks, but from the vineyard itself. This experience planted a seed that would take years to germinate.
The corporate world came next. Barbara joined Tasca d'Almerita, one of Italy's largest wine groups, producing approximately 4 million bottles annually. In communications, she refined her understanding of how wine is marketed, sold, and positioned in the global market. But it was her move to Etna — the volcanic north face of Sicily — that ignited something deeper. The raw power of Nerello Mascalese, the extreme altitude, the living volcano — these were not stories to be told from an office. They were wines that demanded to be made.
In 2022, Barbara took the bold step that defines every true natural winemaker: she left the corporate path entirely. She resettled in Montallegro, a tiny agricultural town in Agrigento province, and embraced the world of natural wines. Her first vintage was modest — just 500 bottles crafted playfully at a friend's winery — but it was enough. By 2023, production had swelled to 1,200 bottles, and the Allegre label was born: a portmanteau of Porto Alegre and Montallegro, embodying her journey from Brazil to Sicily, from communicator to creator.
"Barbara's story reflects a shift from corporate wine communication to becoming an authentic, independent voice in natural wine production. She focuses on sustainability, regional identity, and expressing the terroir's nuances through her wines."
— The Grape Reset
Sustainability & Terroir, From Etna to Agrigento
Barbara Schapke's wines are sourced from multiple sites across Sicily — a deliberate choice that reflects her belief in terroir diversity and the complexity that comes from blending distinct landscapes. Rather than anchoring herself to a single estate, she works with organic and sustainably farmed vineyards across the island, from the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna to the chalky soils of Calatafimi and the warm plains of Vittoria.
The primary base is Montallegro, her adopted home in Agrigento province — a tiny agricultural town where life moves at the rhythm of the harvest and the community is tight-knit. From here, she sources and blends fruit that captures the breadth of Sicilian viticulture. The white wines evolve by vintage: Grecanico in early years, shifting to Catarratto, then incorporating Grillo and Carricante from Etna soils as she builds relationships with growers across the island.
The Etna connection is particularly significant. Having spent formative years on the volcano's north face, Barbara understands the unique demands of high-altitude, volcanic viticulture. The old bush vines of Nerello Mascalese, the dramatic diurnal temperature swings, the mineral-rich basalt soils — these are not abstract concepts to her. They are places she has walked, grapes she has touched, wines she has tasted in their raw, pre-commercial form.
Sustainability is woven into every decision. Barbara focuses on regional identity, working with indigenous varieties that have adapted to Sicily's diverse climates over centuries. She prioritises growers who share her commitment to ecological balance, and her minimal-intervention cellar practices ensure that what happens in the vineyard is what ends up in the bottle. The result is wines that taste not of a brand, but of a place — or rather, of multiple places, woven together by a singular vision.
Fruit from Etna (north face, 800m+), Calatafimi (chalky soils), Vittoria (warm plains), and Montallegro (Agrigento). Deliberate terroir diversity. Relationships with organic growers across Sicily. Complexity through geography, not blending formulas.
Focus on indigenous varieties: Grecanico, Catarratto, Grillo, Carricante, Nerello Mascalese, Nero d'Avola, Frappato. Ecological balance in grower selection. Minimal intervention as environmental respect. Terroir expression as the primary goal.
Years at Tasca d'Almerita (4 million bottles) provided market understanding. Cantina Barbera provided hands-on harvest experience. The leap to independence in 2022 was informed by both — knowing how the industry works, and choosing to work differently.
A portmanteau of Porto Alegre (Brazil) and Montallegro (Sicily). Embodies the journey between two worlds. Not merely a brand, but a biography in a single word. The joy (allegria) of finding home in two places.
Indigenous Yeasts, Zero Additives & Minimal Intervention
At Allegre, the cellar philosophy is one of radical simplicity: indigenous yeasts only, zero additives, minimal sulfur, and no manipulation. Barbara's years in corporate wine communications taught her what the industry standard looks like — selected yeasts, enzymes, corrections, filtration, heavy sulfur — and her response is a deliberate rejection of all of it. The wines are made in small quantities, by hand, with attention to detail that large-scale production cannot replicate.
The techniques are straightforward but demanding:
Harvest: All grapes are hand-harvested from organic and sustainably farmed sites across Sicily. Selection begins in the vineyard and continues at the cellar door. Only perfectly healthy fruit enters the fermentation vessels.
Fermentation: Indigenous yeasts only — the wild microorganisms present on the grape skins and in the cellar environment. No commercial strains, no temperature control beyond ambient conditions, no enzymatic additions. Fermentation proceeds at its own pace, reflecting the vintage, the site, and the season.
Ageing: Varies by cuvée. The "Cat" — Barbara's personal favourite — ages to develop the refined complexity that Catarratto from chalky soils can achieve. The Etna-sourced wines see time in neutral vessels to preserve their volcanic mineral character. The ancestral method sparkling rosé ages on lees in bottle to build texture and autolytic depth.
Bottling: Minimal or no filtration. Minimal sulfur additions — typically only what is necessary for stability, and often none at all. The wines are bottled by hand in small lots, with each vintage representing a unique expression of the year's conditions.
The portfolio reflects Barbara's evolving relationship with Sicilian terroir:
"Allegre Bianco": A white blend that evolves by vintage — from Grecanico to Catarratto, then incorporating Grillo and Carricante from Etna. Fresh, mineral, and constantly changing.
"Allegre Rosso": A red blend of Grenache, Sangiovese, and Nerello Mascalese from old Etna vines. Volcanic power meets Mediterranean warmth.
"Allegre Rosato": A rosé from Nero d'Avola and Frappato sourced from Vittoria. Light, vibrant, and distinctly Sicilian.
"Cat": Pure Catarratto from Calatafimi — Barbara's favourite. Celebrated for its refined complexity from chalky soils, this is the wine that best expresses her philosophy of terroir-first minimalism.
"Sparkling Ancestral Rosato": Made from Nerello Mascalese at 800 metres in Linguaglossa, north of Etna. Ancestral method, with natural bottle fermentation and extended lees ageing. Volcanic energy in sparkling form.
"Cat" Catarratto — "Refined Complexity from Chalky Soils"
The "Cat" is Barbara Schapke's most personal wine — a pure Catarratto from Calatafimi that demonstrates what happens when an indigenous Sicilian variety, chalky soils, and zero-intervention winemaking converge in a single bottle.
Calatafimi, in the province of Trapani, sits on soils rich in limestone and chalk — a terroir that imparts a distinctive mineral backbone and refined complexity to white wines. The Catarratto grapes are hand-harvested from organically farmed vineyards, then fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in neutral vessels. No selected yeasts, no enzymes, no temperature manipulation. The wine ages on its lees to build texture and depth, then is bottled with minimal or zero sulfur, unfined and unfiltered.
In the glass, it is pale straw with greenish highlights. The nose is a delicate weave of white flowers, lemon zest, green almond, and a distinct chalky minerality that speaks directly to the Calatafimi soils. The palate is medium-bodied and textured, with vibrant acidity, a slight salinity, and a long, savoury finish that evolves from citrus to almond and finally to a stony, almost oyster-shell note. This is not a wine for loud occasions; it is a wine for quiet contemplation, for proving that Catarratto — often dismissed as a simple blending grape — can achieve profound elegance when treated with respect. Serve at 10–12°C. Drink young to appreciate its freshness. ~$28–$38 / ~€25–€35.
The Allegre Range
Barbara Schapke produces a small, evolving portfolio of natural wines from organically and sustainably farmed vineyards across Sicily. All wines are hand-harvested, spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts, and bottled with zero additives and minimal or zero sulfur. The portfolio spans evolving white blends, volcanic reds, a Vittoria rosé, a pure Calatafimi Catarratto, and an ancestral method sparkling rosé from Etna. Production is tiny — 1,200 bottles in 2023 — with each vintage reflecting Barbara's deepening relationship with Sicilian terroir. Prices are approximate and in USD/EUR.