Donnafugata has developed thanks to the vision of the Rallo family, who are currently present with their production in several wine regions of Sicily: Contessa Entellina, Marsala, Pantelleria, the Cerasuolo di Vittoria area and Etna.

Giacomo Rallo founded Donnafugata in 1983 in Marsala and involved the whole family with the aim of producing quality wines in Sicily. His wife Gabriella chose the name Donnafugata, drawing on the novel Il Gattopardo by Tommasi di Lampedusa.
Donnafugata means "woman on the run", in the novel she is a Queen who finds refuge on the Sicilian shores where the first company vineyards are located. It also corresponds to the story of Gabriella, who left her job as a teacher to devote herself to the agricultural and wine business. Before Giacomo, the Rallo family already worked in the world of wine, but until the 1980s Sicilian wine was either production of Marsala for the English market or production of bulk wines, sold in tanks; there was no tradition of fine, territorial wines.
Thanks to the collaboration with the great oenologist Giacomo Tachis - who had developed wines such as Sassicaia, Tignanello and Solaia - Donnafugata contributed to give a change to Sicilian enology with a new mentality. Donnafugata enhances local vines such as Nero d'Avola or Moscato d'Alessandria thanks to modern winemaking techniques and takes full advantage of Sicily's environmental unique factors: the sun, the sea, the wind. Legendary wines such as Mille e una Notte and Ben Ryé were born in the 90s.
Today the sons José and Antonio lead Donnafugata with 5 estates in Sicily; they produce a total of 2,700,000 bottles a year from 410 hectares of vineyards.