Food and Wine Tour 2015: what will we visit?
As you know, in the 13th edition of the Food and Wine Tour we will take you to discover the Firriato cellars and the Tenuta Rocchetta oil mill. In this post we want to introduce you to these two companies and give you an idea of what we will visit.
The first stop on the tour will be the Firriato Winery, a winery spokesperson for Sicilian enology in Italy and abroad, which we will visit on Saturday 28
At the beginning of the 80s, Salvatore Di Gaetano’s enological passion was attracted to a particular place, the Firriato district, in the extraordinary countryside of the city of Trapani, an agricultural territory deeply marked by the cultivation of vines and the culture of wine, located between the beautiful sea of the Trapani coast and the majestic fortress of the ancient city of Erice. These are the beginnings of a young entrepreneur, in love with his land and who looks at this land with new eyes, glimpsing the potential for growth and development of a wine-growing area of excellence such as that of the Trapani valleys, but not yet expressed with the necessary commitment and the right production approach. It starts from the vineyard, from the first plants of Nero d’Avola, Catarratto and Ansonica, conducted with the scruple of modern viticulture centered on a new concept of wine quality that has its primacy precisely in the vineyard and in its agronomic management. The grapes must arrive in the cellar perfectly healthy, organoleptically complete, harvested at the right degree of ripeness. Respecting the naturalness, enhancing the oenological value, enhancing the varietal peculiarities of each vine is for Firriato, from the beginning, an iron rule on which Salvatore Di Gaetano, harvest after harvest, manages to form a new model of wine business, rooted in territory but with an eye to the most demanding and prepared markets. At Firriato, the sense of belonging and the pride of sharing all together that project of growth and enhancement of the Sicilian viticultural territory, you see it everywhere, you read it in the eyes, you hear it from the words of those who work and commit themselves, with true and unchanged passion. Firriato, in this sense, is a family business, because it is a large family that recognizes itself in the dream of that young Sicilian entrepreneur who knew how to intuit and encourage the renaissance of quality Sicilian wine.
The cellar of Baglio Sorìa
The Baglio Sorìa estate
The wines of the estate
On Sunday we will continue our tour with a visit to the Tenuta Rocchetta oil mill – Angela Consiglio Agricultural Company.
Since 1600, the Consiglio family has been growing olive trees on the Rocchetta estate, a few kilometers from ancient Selinunte, handing down the passion and art of producing extra virgin olive oil from father to son. The company now owns 6,000 olive trees, mostly from Nocellara del Belice, planted by the different generations that have followed one another. Hand-picked green olives in October and November to ensure distinctive aromas. Cold-pressed oil in a continuous cycle mill a few hours after harvesting, bottled, unfiltered, after a natural period of decanting in the stainless steel silos located in the warehouses of the ancient residence of Castelvetrano. Tenuta Rocchetta is a limited edition oil, intended for the most refined gourmets in the world and awarded in the most important national competitions since 1996. Winner of the Ercole Olivario EXPO Premium List 2015 which will represent, together with the other 100 Italian companies, quality Made in Italy of Extra Virgin Olive Oil at Expo Milano.
The olives of the estate ready for harvest
The wonderful olive trees of the estate
The program at the farm includes a visit to the estate and the centuries-old olive trees, followed by professional tasting of their own extra virgin olive oils. For lunch there is a tasting with oil-olive combinations and products from the countryside of the olive cycle, followed by a walk among the olive trees and a visit to the oil mill.
We can’t wait to spend a weekend of full immersion in the most authentic flavors of our island! And you?
