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About Winery and Wines
The Winery The winery, fonded by the hand of Ture Alì, a great lover of the Sicilian culture and nature. It was born in 2011 when for passion he decided to plant the first vineyard in Nicolosi. Ture perceive the potential of the terroir and that it exist the conditions regarding Etna's land to become a "cru" where it was possible to make good wine. From the beginning he took care of the vineyard following the biorhythms marked by nature and the climate, over the years he gave life to a much appreciated wine and so his daughter Irene and her husband Sebastiano decided to continue the life project. A Sustainable Vineyard Our vineyards are all owned and we do not buy grapes from third parties. Our vineyards are cultivated in the traditional way at “Alberello” as has always been done on Etna and in spurred cordon . We bind the vines with organic ropes made of natural fibers. We don't use big and heavy tractors that compact the soil. For the fertilization of our vineyards we use only local manure at zero km produced from farmers we know personally. In the vineyard we prefer to make little or no treatment with sulfur or copper and therefore we free the bunches from the leaves to allow the air to recirculate and increase the natural defense against diseases useful for improving the quality of the grapes. We do not use irrigation for the vines to avoid wasting water and increasing the surface concentration of salts in the soil with consequent sterilization of the land. In our vineyards we have from 6,000 to 8,000 plants per hectare: we work each vineyard manually all year round and the work is done manually by native workers and then returned to the local economy. All our vineyards are within natural ecosystems, pines, brooms, wild aromatic plants (oregano, thyme, lavender, etc.). In order to preserve and disseminate insects such as bees, butterflies, etc. our vineyards share the land with other native plants: olive trees, pomegranates, cherries and pears t
GRAPE VARIETY Nerello Mascalese , called by the Etna winemakers Niuriddu Mascalisi, is an autochthonous vine whose selection land is the Etna area where it has been raised for memorable times on terraces of rocks and basaltic sands that descend from the crater to the sea between gorse and lava. The beginning of its cultivation is lost in the mists of time. Recent studies have shown that this native red grape variety makes its first appearance during the Greek colonization in the 8th century BC. on the coasts of Calabria, to move to Naxos and subsequently to Catania in 728 BC, when the Greeks introduced the cultivation of cuttings and the adoration of Dionysius, god of wine, in the eastern part of Sicily. Nerello Mascalese is a very elegant wine which has a delicate ruby red colour, quite transparent due to the presence of a modest quantity of polyphenols. Among the refined aromas, the hints of red berry fruit prevail with an interesting spicy note, all supported by a lively acidity, elegant tannins and a marked minerality that is part of the volcanic terroir. It stands out for its finesse, structure and power. The vineyards of Etna have historically been classified into Contrade (CRU) each of which represents a different microclimate and mesoclimate of lava stratification and a distinctive taste profile. The result is wines that have the austerity of the mountain and the sapidity of the sea and a great aging capacity. The vineyards are cultivated at 700 m