Let’s discover the elements that make viticulture in some areas of Sardinia and Sicily a heroic, primordial and human practice.
Respect for ancestral traditions that come from the past. And for two territories that represent landscape treasures. Then again extreme climatic and pedological conditions, including slopes and considerable thermal excursions. The basic principles that animate the winemakers of Sicily, Etna and Sardinia, especially in the Mandrolisai area, are similar. The approach on tiptoe almost not to disturb the wonderful surrounding landscapes too. And in some cases even the techniques used, with the cultivation of the sapling vines, the practices used to work the land, which leave the machines out of the vineyards and still rely on the aid of animals. All these elements make viticulture in some areas of Sardinia and Sicily a heroic, primordial and human practice.
In Sicily, viticulture among the terraces built by man on the volcano is based on the training of workers, becoming a real laboratory that incorporates the traditions and practices of the past, feeding the extreme biodiversity that characterizes the lava territory. In Sardinia, in the middle of the Barbagie, close to the mountains, the vineyards are small gardens, treated like jewels where time has stopped.
Etna, the heroic and primordial viticulture on the volcano of eastern Sicily
by Marcella Pace
Elevations ranging from 300 to 1,300 meters above sea level. Slopes that can exceed 40%. Thermal excursions in the course of a day that even reach 18 degrees. A land that is the result of the disintegration of different types of volcanic lava of different ages as well as various eruptive materials. That lava that in the form of ash, but also of lapilli, which in dialect they call ripiddu , also descends from above. The basic conditions that characterize the Etna area, the active volcano of eastern Sicily , 3,340 meters high and with a diameter of more than 50 kilometers, are extreme from many points of view, so much so as to make viticulture heroic. Mechanization does not exist here. Everything is done by hand. To build the terraces, supported by dry-stone walls of lava stone, with which the land that will have to accommodate the vineyards is arranged, in order to contain the sand. And then to work the vineyards. The vine is trained as a sapling, surrounded by chestnut poles, a luxuriant system that pushes upwards, and protects it from rain, sun and even from the volcano itself, almost like an umbrella. The density is also 8,000 vines per hectare, making it impossible to enter with a tractor.
And so Etna viticulture is primordial, and it is human. The project by Salvo Foti , the oenologist considered the guardian of Etnean viticulture of the past, starts from this conviction. He, who has always worked in the world of wine, created I Vigneri , a consortium that today has 250,000 vines on the volcano, with about 30 people, taking up “La Maestranza dei Vigneri” a model born in 1435. “Etna viticulture is very particular for climatic and pedological issues and in fact an extreme biodiversity of native vines is cultivated – explains Foti-, some almost extinct. There are many problems on the mountain and I have matured over time that what years ago was failing on Etna were the workers. To plant the vineyards, to go up the volcano, to build the terraces, for example. And so I decided to recover a model that was 600 years old. The Maestranza dei Vigneri was a corporation that served as an atelier, a laboratory to train men, even before the vineyards. I was inspired by this to create an institution with the aim of training the true professionals of the vine, and propose a traditional and very ancient viticulture, with processes for the most part manual “.
Biodiversity and variability are the main constants on Etna. In one of the Vigneri vineyards, which is the highest at an altitude of 1,300 meters, in winter the temperature drops below zero, with a blanket of snow that covers the ground for weeks. In summer, excursions during the day even reach 18 degrees. The 8,000 vines present are from at least 10 different varieties. “Autochthonous vines that have always been on Etna – clarifies the oenologist -. The more the conditions are extreme, the more the vines increase because this gives the guarantee that the vineyard will survive over time “. Some are almost extinct, such as the black minnella and others are more known and widespread such as the great whites: the carricante, the malvasia, the visparola, and the grecanico. But also with black berries such as the alicante, the nerello cap and the nerello mascalese. “The latter – explains Foti – is more of a beach type. He loves the sun, the heat and when he goes up he finds it more difficult ”. In this context of variety and biodiversity, man intervenes with respect for the territory and for the giant that is the mountain , as the Sicilians call Etna. No concrete poles, never iron wires, only wooden stakes from Etna and recovery of the vines even in unacceptable areas. “It is not heroism – specifies Salvo Foti – it is a system of conservation of the territory. It is a way of adapting and respecting it. Man is the architect in quantity and quality of the management and cultivation of the vineyard and this allows us to take care of the territory “. It is also an investment in the territory itself. “When the vines are worked with a qualitatively specialized labor force, what is produced is returned to the territory itself, even economically, in a mentality that looks to the future”.
Sardinia, the small vineyards of Mandrolisai where time has stopped
Small vineyards, which with the changing of the seasons paint the landscape as if they were the colors in a palette, treated like jewels due to limited production and superior quality. Time has stopped here and viticulture is primordial and heroic. In Sardinia, in the exact center of the island, in the middle of the Barbagie, close to the mountains, between 500 and 700 meters high, the hill is supported by small vineyards, extended to a maximum of half a hectare of surface, treated like gardens, where Mandrolisai Doc is produced. The farms are mostly sapling or bilateral spurred cordon.
The harsh winters compared to the average of the island often also bring snowfall. And the significant temperature changes cause the grapes to color. The vineyards at high altitudes dominate the territory and are small plots set among woods, hedges and other fruit or olive crops. “In this area the Doc requires a blend in the vineyard – explains Gianni Nieddu , professor at the University of Sassari -. In the disciplinary and in the tradition the indigenous vines are imposed with a similar ratio of 30 percent for each. Popular wisdom called for monica, an early vine, very productive even in difficult situations; the cannonau that brings the body, structure, sugars and alcohol; finally the Sardinian bovale which confers the Anthocean content. Not infrequently many entrepreneurs are leaving the DOC by focusing on Igt on Sardinian bovale, vinified in purity which, although it was considered a vine of difficult management, today is able to produce a wine rich in anthocyanins, with a valid polyphenolic structure, and lasting in the weather”.
The care of the plants is primordial, with the machines that are left outside the vineyards. The winemakers are very attentive to this heritage recently registered in the register of rural landscapes of historical interest and therefore “if on the one hand they are looking for innovation – continues Nieddu – on the other hand they still use the techniques of the past. I am thinking of animal traction, as it happened thousands of years ago, with oxen that are used for plowing the vineyards. It is viticulture in some way conditioned by the isolation of this area “.
But that of Mandrolisai is not the only heroic Sardinian wine area. Among these is the Sulcis area, where the Carignano is grown. “The area of Sant’Antioco becomes heroic, a small island in the south of Sardinia – underlines Nieddu – on the west coast. It is a sandy area. The phylloxera has never had the opportunity to establish itself and therefore we still find vineyards without rootstocks, foot francs that have different ages because they are constantly renewed. There are centuries-old trees alongside others that have recently been replaced.
This adds to the specificity of a vine grown close to the sea “. Also in this case, in many areas, on the islet, but also on the mainland, there are expressions of Carignano with sapling and animal traction, which this time are donkeys and horses. “These situations – concludes Nieddu – we can find them in a more punctual way in higher areas, such as Orgosolo, Mamoiada, Jerzu, towns in the center of the island where cannonau is grown, with small vineyards, still animal traction, still sapling, and with affectionate people who take care of them like jewels. With effort and sacrifice “.
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