Today was one of my favorite days at work. Probably because I got to play tourist and was spoiled with an 3 course lunch composed of typical Sicilian dishes, all made from ingrediants that came right from the estate, and amazing wine as well(Duh!). I helped give tours around the winery and explain the things that make Tasca D’Almerita one of the best wineries in Sicily. Would you like to hear my speech...Andiamo!
...The story of the beautiful estate of Regaleali began over 160 years ago, in the early 1830’s when the Tasca D’Almerita family originally purchased over 1200 hectares of land in these foothills between the provenances of Caltanisetta and Palermo. At that time the main production of the estate was wheat. After the agrarian reform in the mid 1900’s, over half of the land was taken away and divided into smaller properties for the poor, decreasing it to 500 hectares. Currently, we have about 420 hectares under vine, leaving the rest for olive trees and some unoccupied for the planting of vineyards and the future success of the winery. The altitude of the vineyards vary from about 400-800 meters, creating an ideal microclimate for the grapes. This estate is more than just vineyards though. Even today, it is practically self sufficient and produces all of it’s own vegetables, fruit, wheat, olives, cheeses and meats.
In the 1950’s Conte Guiseppe Tasca started a revolution for Sicilian winemaking when he decided to produce wine of quality rather than quantity. He began with the production of Regaleali Bianco and soon after Regaleali Rosso. After investing in the celler in the 70’s and purchasing temperature controlled tanks, Slovenian oak barrels, and machines to work the vineyards, he was ready to create a superior wine capable of aging like those being produced in France. It was then that the flagship wine, Rosso del Conte (originally called Reserva del Conte) was born from the Sicilian variety, Nero D’Avola (with a small percentage of Perricone). Today, 25 years later, the original 3,000-6,000 liter Slovanian oak barrels are still used. Not to add character to the wine but only as good containers.
The vineyards are comprised mostly of the red indigenous varietals of Nero D’Avola, Nerello Mascalese, and Perricone; and the white varietals of Cattarato, Insolia, Greccanico, Moscato, and Grillo. In the 1980’s Conte Lucio planted the first international varieties in Sicily, Chardonnay and Cabernet, which are still used to produce their top wines. They also cultivate Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Bianco, Sauvignon Tasca, Traminer, and other experimental varieties. Tasca D'Almerita has production areas in 5 different areas of Sicily. These include the original Regaleali estate, Capofaro on the Aeolian Island of Salina (famous for Malvasia), the Mozia island in cooperation with the Whittaker foundation (famous for its Grillo vineyards), and most recently in the Etna volcanic region (Nerello Mascalese). They also tend to the vineyards of their cousins of Sallier de la Tour, in the camporeale area, close to Palermo. With production in these diverse regions, the winery has the ability to produce a diverse collection of wines, each with individually distinctive characteristics.
The vineyards are comprised mostly of the red indigenous varietals of Nero D’Avola, Nerello Mascalese, and Perricone; and the white varietals of Cattarato, Insolia, Greccanico, Moscato, and Grillo. In the 1980’s Conte Lucio planted the first international varieties in Sicily, Chardonnay and Cabernet, which are still used to produce their top wines. They also cultivate Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Bianco, Sauvignon Tasca, Traminer, and other experimental varieties. Tasca D'Almerita has production areas in 5 different areas of Sicily. These include the original Regaleali estate, Capofaro on the Aeolian Island of Salina (famous for Malvasia), the Mozia island in cooperation with the Whittaker foundation (famous for its Grillo vineyards), and most recently in the Etna volcanic region (Nerello Mascalese). They also tend to the vineyards of their cousins of Sallier de la Tour, in the camporeale area, close to Palermo. With production in these diverse regions, the winery has the ability to produce a diverse collection of wines, each with individually distinctive characteristics.
Of course the winemaking process must begin in the vineyards, because without quality grapes it is impossible to produce quality wine. The harvest begins mid-August with Chardonnay as a base for their vino spumante which is made with the Champoinse method and considered one of Sicily’s best sparkling wines. The harvest will finish mid-October with Nero D’Avola and Cattarato. The majority of the grapes are picked by hand (90%) and the rest by machine, if absolutely necessary. Once they arrive at the winery and are weighed and a machine determines temperature, acidity, and sugar content of the grapes. Then the truck empties the grapes into a large open tank that feeds them into the de-stemmer which quickly rotates the bunches, allowing only the berries to fall through the small holes, separating them from the stems. At this point, the process varies depending on whether we’re making red or white wine. If working with a white varietal, the grapes are pumped immediately into the press. The “fiore”, or free run juice, is released from the grapes simply from the pressure from the weight of the grapes. This juice is the best quality and runs into a holding tank below the press. Once the press is full of grapes, a balloon like device inside exerts pressure to force the grapes to release the “pressatto” or press wine, while the skins remain in the press. After this, the juice is transferred into a fermentation tank where yeast is added and it will remain for 10-15 days, depending on the varietal and style of wine being produced. During this time period, the temperature and condition of the yeasts are carefully controlled and the winemaker tastes the juice in each tank daily, to ensure the fermentation is continuing correctly. For the production of red wine, it is important that the juice ferments while still in contact with the skin and pulp, in order to extract as much color and tannin as possible. During this process the skins will float to the top of the tank forming the cap, which has to be pumped over every 6 hours or so to ensure that the must constantly remains in contact with the skins. Once fermentation is complete the juice under the cap is removed and pumped into another tank and the seeds and skins are sent into the press where a balloon like device squeezes them to extract the rest of the juice known as the pressato. The skins that are left in the press are sent to the distillery in Messina where they are used to produce Grappa.
There are 2,000, 225 liter French oak barriques which are only used for three years; the first year for “Rosso Del Conte” (80% of the estate’s best Nero D’Avola and 20% of the another premium varietal), Cabernet Sauvignon (18 months), and Chardonnay (8 months). The second year they are used for the estate selections of “Camastra” (70% Nero D’Avola-30% Merlot) and “Cygnus” (70% Nero D’Avola, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon) which each spend 14 months in the barrique. The last year they are used for “Lamuri” (Nero D’Avola) and spends 1 year inside. After three years they are available for smaller wineries to purchase for about 100 euros. Each year they purchase about 600 new barriques, each costing about 700 euros. One thing they do here that sets them apart from most others is that every 4 months they wash out the barriques to remove the sediment. It takes about a month and a half to complete this labor intensive process. One barrel of wine is lost for every 100 that are cleaned. It is an expensive process, but is very important in producing wine of high quality.
Lastly, the wine is bottled in the brand new, state of the art bottling factory and either aged for some time in the bottle or distributed for immediate consumption. Tasca D’Almerita produces over 3.3 million bottles of wine each year and exports to over 60 countries all over the world, with Germany and the U.S. at the top of the list.
Lastly, the wine is bottled in the brand new, state of the art bottling factory and either aged for some time in the bottle or distributed for immediate consumption. Tasca D’Almerita produces over 3.3 million bottles of wine each year and exports to over 60 countries all over the world, with Germany and the U.S. at the top of the list.
No comments:
Post a Comment