With a cultivation of over 15 thousand tree vines, this is one of the most suited area for the production of fine red and white wine in Sicily. We are in Contrada Bastonaca, in the heart of the Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG region which hosts Tenuta Bastonaca, a young and modern wine-making reality whose story has the taste of a great love for this land… and not only.
The winery’s manager, Silvana Raniolo and her husband Giovanni Calcaterra have always lived immersed in the scents and fragrances of wine. Their relationship begun after a working meeting (Silvana worked for a well-known local vineyard, while Giovanni, lawyer, worked for his family winery), just talking about wines.
In 2007 they realized their dream of creating their own family business, thus they decided to acquire some land in Contrada Bastonaca. This marked the start of the successful cultivation of vines according to the organic farming methods, all under the watchful eye of the famous oenologist Carlo Ferrini.
The company points to the future but with a constant look at the past; for this reason they have chosen to cultivate only tree vines. Here you will find the traditional Nero d’Avola, Frappato, and Grillo; however a touch of innovation is given by a lower production of Grenache and Tannat which are grown leaning on reeds, as their grandparents used to do. A natural farming without recourse to irrigation: the underground heat coming from the red soil is the sole distinctive feature of these wines.
Several important projects are in the pipeline and will be soon developed, as tell us Silvana and Giovanni while visiting the winery, an old millstone built at the end of the 18 century, which will be shortly accessible to tourists and to those who want to share the pleasure of living in the countryside, strolling among the vine rows, picking fruit or vegetables with their own hands and then moving to the kitchen for the preparation of preserves and typical dishes of the Sicilian tradition.
At the end of this exceptional sensory experience you can enjoy a slice of home-made bread dressed in the olive oil produced in the olive grove surrounding the vineyard: Carolea, an extremely rare variety of oil. www.coloursofsicily.com
