Winery Lanzaro
Grapes: 100% grecanico
Price: 7 €,
in wine fermentation and maturation: steel
arrived at Memphis, a lovely City of Wine in the province of Agrigento, on the border with the province of Trapani (It is only 18 km from Castelvetrano, where I live and work) , take the SP 41 in the direction of Sambuca di Sicilia. After just a few kilometers, some signs remind me that I'm already taking the "Wine Road Sicane Terre", one of the most evocative of our Viaticum enografici Trinacria. After about 10 km I take the SS 624, better known as the "Palermo-Sciacca" or "valley road" and continue towards Sciacca. At Km 74 I find the words "Farm" and turn right. I find myself along a tortuous and difficult road that, initially rising, it gives me, going down, a breathtaking panorama of sea and rural landscape at the same time. The green expanses of "skiing" alternate with olive groves and vineyards, they now dress clothes autumn, by the luscious and warm colors. After a few minutes before I get a magnificent and imposing seventeenth-century beam and the sign: Lanzara Winery. Tenuta S. Baglio Vincenzo. The enormous wooden door which is the massive entry of a notice indicating that the business is closed and will reopen to the public after April 1, 2011. Around me landscape nothing short of fabulous. Tenuta S. Baglio Vincent faces a huge and beautiful valley (shown on maps as St. Vincent Vallone), dominated by the ruins of a military fort still intact, built on the rock and dating from the First World War. We are in an area full of charm, history and culture, and historical reminiscences remarkable and significant (often unnoticed and ignored by the residents of the area).
I think the near Sambuca di Sicilia (ancient Zabut, Arab Emir named after the founder), a few miles and a living testimony to Arab architectural influence in Sicily began in the first half of the ninth century. In S. Margherita Belice, also not far, founded by Baron Corbera, ancestor of the writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and home to the beautiful Palace of Filangeri Cutò today magnificent expression of the Literary Park and the Museum of the Leopard The Leopard, which is dedicated to the famous Sicilian writer . And Montevago, home to the famed and well-equipped spa. We are in the Valle del Belice, known throughout the world for the devastating earthquake that struck heavily in January 1968 and of which, even today you can see some important, real testimonials. All the territory tends to enhance the well-known local products such as vastedda Belice (stretched curd cheese its characteristic shape and produced from raw sheep's milk Belicina), extra virgin olive variety Nocellara of Belize, the prickly pear.
sound the bell but I do not receive any response. He decides to send a quick SMS to his friend Alexander Giarraputo, dynamic and advanced winemaker and technical director of the wine. After a few minutes I opened the door and I am pleased to greet him to follow in the company visit. Going through the door you are immediately struck by the impressive courtyard of the beam, with the masterfully restored facades and lush green meadow walk. Everything is as it was at that time. Even today, this typical rural construction (the term "beam" probably derives from the Arabic " Bahah " which means courtyard), retain all the characters of "house". The ferment of the harvest campaign is now behind us, and now reigns in the cellar a religious silence, respectful of the "fruit of the earth" that rests in the tanks waiting operations managed by the usual wine making techniques. My friend Alex tells me that in this period, his work consists mainly in taste, bath tub, barrel for barrel, and obtained all the wines in vats resting in order to control, sensory, developmental status.
In the charming cellar, entirely carved into the tufa rock, Alexander shows me a corner, even deeper, characterized by the presence of stalactites, a place that the company has a further and particular meaning, whereas there was filmed a scene from the TV series "The secret of water", where actor Richard Pugliese Scamarcio interprets as a player, an agent of the Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate which are transferred from Rome to Palermo, he discovers to be son of a Mafia boss in the area. The farm where he works, the friend winemaker produces a remarkable series of superb wines, from whites to reds fresh and complex full-bodied and structured, all excellent and very territorial identity. But the pride and joy are sure the bubbles, which are themselves over 60% of the production company. Even my own countrymen often unaware that their island is an excellent producer of sparkling wines of quality, innovative and often surprising. The Costanza, Extra Dry sparkling wine, is a valid and representative sample. His friend Alexander uncorks a bottle and firmly closing two small flute. It 'definitely a bubble singular, unique. We talk, in this case, a pure sparkling grecanico Charmat with short, very noteworthy. The grecanico, a native grape variety, has always blended with other white grapes in recent years has been rediscovered as a great soloist, with great aptitude for sparkling wine. It has a crystal clear, if not brilliant, pale yellow with green reflections. The observation of his perlage leaves you puzzled. It seems to observe the bubbles of a good traditional method. Minute, numerous, persistent. The nose is quite intense and complex, with subtle floral notes and (especially) fresh white fruit (green apple, white peach, prickly pear) on a background plant that smells of vinegar, aromatic (sage, thyme) and Mineral. The mouth is fresh and elegant, with a flavor and a right end slightly soft, a subtle hint of almond characterizes this particular bubble, making it very versatile face on the delicate match. Certainly excellent as an aperitif, it can be approached, not without a certain audacity, to sweet fresh unstructured.
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| Vineyards along the Strada del Vino Terre Sicane | |
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| The picturesque courtyard of S. Baglio Vincenzo | |
sound the bell but I do not receive any response. He decides to send a quick SMS to his friend Alexander Giarraputo, dynamic and advanced winemaker and technical director of the wine. After a few minutes I opened the door and I am pleased to greet him to follow in the company visit. Going through the door you are immediately struck by the impressive courtyard of the beam, with the masterfully restored facades and lush green meadow walk. Everything is as it was at that time. Even today, this typical rural construction (the term "beam" probably derives from the Arabic " Bahah " which means courtyard), retain all the characters of "house". The ferment of the harvest campaign is now behind us, and now reigns in the cellar a religious silence, respectful of the "fruit of the earth" that rests in the tanks waiting operations managed by the usual wine making techniques. My friend Alex tells me that in this period, his work consists mainly in taste, bath tub, barrel for barrel, and obtained all the wines in vats resting in order to control, sensory, developmental status.
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| Vineyards along the valley slope S. Vincenzo |
In the charming cellar, entirely carved into the tufa rock, Alexander shows me a corner, even deeper, characterized by the presence of stalactites, a place that the company has a further and particular meaning, whereas there was filmed a scene from the TV series "The secret of water", where actor Richard Pugliese Scamarcio interprets as a player, an agent of the Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate which are transferred from Rome to Palermo, he discovers to be son of a Mafia boss in the area. The farm where he works, the friend winemaker produces a remarkable series of superb wines, from whites to reds fresh and complex full-bodied and structured, all excellent and very territorial identity. But the pride and joy are sure the bubbles, which are themselves over 60% of the production company. Even my own countrymen often unaware that their island is an excellent producer of sparkling wines of quality, innovative and often surprising. The Costanza, Extra Dry sparkling wine, is a valid and representative sample. His friend Alexander uncorks a bottle and firmly closing two small flute. It 'definitely a bubble singular, unique. We talk, in this case, a pure sparkling grecanico Charmat with short, very noteworthy. The grecanico, a native grape variety, has always blended with other white grapes in recent years has been rediscovered as a great soloist, with great aptitude for sparkling wine. It has a crystal clear, if not brilliant, pale yellow with green reflections. The observation of his perlage leaves you puzzled. It seems to observe the bubbles of a good traditional method. Minute, numerous, persistent. The nose is quite intense and complex, with subtle floral notes and (especially) fresh white fruit (green apple, white peach, prickly pear) on a background plant that smells of vinegar, aromatic (sage, thyme) and Mineral. The mouth is fresh and elegant, with a flavor and a right end slightly soft, a subtle hint of almond characterizes this particular bubble, making it very versatile face on the delicate match. Certainly excellent as an aperitif, it can be approached, not without a certain audacity, to sweet fresh unstructured.
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| With the company's winemaker Alessandro Giarraputo | |
My visit is coming to an end. In terms of climate is definitely not the best day. The sky is gray. There is cold. And humidity. But the colors of winter, I find the green pastures and vineyards in the bare, full of charm and appeal, I am distracted by the "spleen" of the rigid, unforgiving season. After a hug to my friend Alex, I climb into the car and put in motion, and I leave those lands already with a sense of nostalgia, not without a heartfelt thanks to St. Vincent, always (especially for cousins \u200b\u200bacross the Alps), the patron saint of winegrowers ...
Caramel Corona
Winery Lanzaro srl - Contrada S. Vincent, Memphis (AG). Tel 0925 75018 - Fax 0925 570423 - info@lanzarawines.com - www.lanzarawines.it - Winemaker: Alessandro Giarraputo - Extension estate: 50 hectares Property - Vineyard: 41 hectares - Soil: medium, calcareous - Grapes: Nero d'Avola, syrah, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, grecanico, cricket, catarratto, chardonnay - Average age of vines: 20 years First two digits Bottled: 2003 - Number of bottles produced: 180.000.