Fruit
Earth
Acid
Body
Tannins
The I Vigneri project - named after a Sicilian Vintner’s Guild founded in 1435 - consists of 30 hectares of vines planted at 700 metres above sea level on the north side of Mount Etna near the town of Calderara. The project is led by Salvo Foti who works with a number of local growers to produce traditionally crafted, organic wines from old vines grown on volcanic and sandy soils. No herbicides or pesticides are used in the wine making process and all the grapes are hand-harvested. Fermentation takes place in open vats, without the use of yeast inoculation, enzymes or thermal control and the wines are bottled without fining nor filtration. Vinupetra is a blend of the indigenous Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio grapes with a splash of Alicante from a tiny 0.85ha vineyard and is aged in French barriques.
Country
Italy
Sub-Region
Etna Rosso
Region
Sicily
Varieties
Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante
Farming
Organic
Soil
Volcanic, sand
Winemaking
30% of the grapes are pressed with their whole-cluster. Natural fermentation occurs in 2500l wooden vats with no temperature control and lasts at least two weeks. The wine is then aged in 225 and 500 liter barrels for 12 months.