Azienda Agricola Kalma
Ragusa, Sicily, ITA

Founded in 2022, Kalma is the culmination of a long, nomadic journey for Nikolas Resin and Waiata May Kalma-de Jong - two seasoned outsiders who ultimately found both home and purpose in southeastern Sicily. The estate takes its name from Kalma, Waiata’s family name, anchoring a deeply personal project to a place far from where either began. Their path to Vittoria spans some of the most thoughtful corners of contemporary wine. Nikolas trained in enology and viticulture in Germany and northern Italy before working across South Africa, Chianti, Priorat, and Spain, eventually becoming winery manager at COS under Giusto Occhipinti. Waiata, originally from New Zealand, spent part of her youth in Montpellier before working as a sommelier in Melbourne and Paris, where her transition from the floor to the vineyard took root.

They met while working at COS, then continued together through formative periods at Domaine Matassa in the Roussillon and Kindeli in Nelson, New Zealand. Yet Sicily—with its balance of light, freshness, and agricultural depth - continued to exert its pull. Drawn by the region’s naturally elegant wines and its close-knit community of vignerons, they returned with their two children and, in 2022, purchased a 3.8-hectare hillside property in Chiaramonte Gulfi, the so-called “Balcony of Sicily,” surrounded by olive and citrus groves.

The farm is modest in scale and rich in character: over 50-year-old vines rooted in limestone soils with only a thin layer of topsoil, lending natural tension and precision to the wines. Of the 3.8 hectares, half is planted to vines, with roughly one hectare dedicated to olive trees, reinforcing Kalma’s identity as a living, regenerative farm rather than a monocultural vineyard. Working from their restored 19th-century cantina, Nikolas and Waiata place farming at the centre of everything they do. Regenerative agriculture, minimal intervention, and an emphasis on soil life guide their decisions in the vineyard. The favourable local climate allows them to treat the vines sparingly, if at all, strengthening their belief that healthy soils - not cellar technique - are the true source of expressive wines.

The wines themselves are quiet but charged, shaped by restraint and a global perspective filtered through a deeply local lens. The range draws primarily from their own vineyards, complemented by fruit from trusted friends, and centres on varieties such as Nero d’Avola, Frappato, Grillo, and the near-forgotten Albanello. Looking ahead, the revival of Albanello - valued for its structure and acidity rather than overt aromatics - signals their long-term commitment to safeguarding Sicily’s viticultural heritage while allowing it to evolve.

Despite their international pedigree, Nikolas and Waiata remain disarmingly humble. Their wines are not about polish or perfection, but about intention and integrity - an invitation to consider not how a wine performs, but how it was grown, made, and cared for. Kalma is less a statement than a slow, thoughtful conversation with place, and a compelling new voice in the modern canon of Sicilian wine.