Tasca d'Almerita

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Tasca d'Almerita is a 460 ha large Sicilian wine region in the family, based in Sclafani Bagni , which in 1830 by Lucio Tasca was founded. Several independent wineries are now run as brands . The great Johnson calls this company the only one in Sicily with “consistently high quality”. Gambero Rosso writes about the winery: "In just a few years, Count Giuseppe Tasca d'Almerita presented a company with a lot of energy and a keen sense of the world that was finally able to come up with a Sicilian wine brand with a high recognition value". And also that his wines "can compete with other prominent names in the Italian and international wine scene".

Possessions

Tasca d'Almerita now has five production sites:

  • The administrative center is Regaleali, which is just over five hectares on the hills on the border of the Free Municipal Consortium Caltanissetta and the metropolitan city of Palermo . The wines grown here are traded under the two brands Tasca and Tenuta Regaleali .
  • Only Grillo is grown on the Museum Island Mozia , the Phoenician island in the Trapani Free Community Consortium, on which the Giuseppe Whitaker Foundation conducts antiquity research . These wines flow under the trade name Taska .
  • The Tascate winery is located on the slopes of Mount Etna in the wine-growing region of the same name . Mainly the vines Nerello Mascalese and 10 percent Nerello Cappuccio grow here .
  • The Salina island of the Aeolian archipelago is suitable for the production of Malvasia . It was not until 2002 that these six hectares, which are reserved exclusively for sweet wine production, were acquired. The trade name of these wines is Capofaro . The properties include the five-star Capofaro Malvasia & Resort inns .
  • The Sallier de La Tour winery near Camporeale was once the summer residence of the Palermo family and is now considered a model company with predominantly Syrah cultivation .

history

The brothers Lucio and Carmelo Mastrogiovanni Tasca bought more than 1,200 hectares of agricultural land with the former fiefdom of Regaleali near Sclafani. Above all, Lucio († 1892) is said to have literary quality as a writer in addition to his entrepreneurial spirit as a cattle breeder. His son, Giuseppe Tasca Lanza (1870–1929), was not interested in these activities and went into politics. He became a member of parliament, senator of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and two-time mayor of Palermo . His son, Lucio Tasca Bordonaro (1880-1957) married into the Lancia family and was honored with the title of count. In 1922 he began with great passion the revitalization of the business enterprise of his grandfather of the same name. He's probably just starting to work professionally as a winemaker. Under his leadership, the company became a model for the whole of Sicily as a model agricultural business.

Vineyards

The hilly landscape lies at an altitude between 450 and 750 meters, which is in front of the Madonie mountain range . Of the original 1200 hectares of land, over half was confiscated in the 1960s as part of the land reform. The vineyards cultivated there, which are subject to extreme temperature fluctuations in summer, have been continuously increased from 300 hectares to 400 hectares today. Almost half of them are planted with white vines and are grown almost exclusively with single or double guyot pruning. The oldest vineyards are 40–45 years old. It is managed close to nature with reduced yield. Other agricultural areas are reserved for the olive trees.

The most important grape varieties are Nero d'Avola , Cabernet Sauvignon and Perricone for the red varieties and the traditional, autochthonous varieties Inzolia , Catarratto Bianco lucido , Sauvignon Tasca , Grecanico and Grillo, and Chardonnay for the white wines. In addition, Pinot nero is also produced for rosé sparkling wine production.

Cellar technology

The cellars in the main building originally served as a cattle barn and were initially converted using simple means. There are also a number of concrete basins with a capacity of 12,000 hl in which the wine matures. Over time, these will be replaced by stainless steel tanks. Their capacity is currently 15,000 hl. There are also oak and chestnut wood barrels from Slovenia and France, each with a capacity of 3000–6000 liters, as well as some barrique barrels made from French oak with a total of 600 hl. All wines are subject to the IGT quality level .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Great Johnson , 19th ed., P. 375
  2. ↑ Bindella.ch
  3. ↑ The world of «Gattopardi» , NZZ , May 4, 2002
  4. ↑ Cellartours.com : Sauvignon Tasca is a clone of the Sauvignon grape
  5. ^ Roberto Gatti: I grandi della viticoltura italiana: Conte Lucio Tasca d'Almerita , on Winetaste.it , March 18, 2010

Coordinates: 37 ° 42 ′ 20 ″  N , 13 ° 51 ′ 1 ″  E