Suber: wine with a Sicilian personality In the very heart of Sicily, between the plain of Gela and the plain of Catania, lies the city of Caltagirone, in the province of Catania. This is the region that gave birth to the Suber wine, made from an indigenous, organically-grown grape variety. The wine has a distinct flavour and a strong, yet elegant, character, qualities that derive from a special combination of terrain and climate. Traditional vine cultivation techniques are combined with a vinification process which uses the latest technology giving a wine of natural quality while at the same time protecting the environment and respecting human labour. Grape varieties NERO D AVOLA FRAPPATO ALICANTE: THREE VARIETIES GIVE THREE CHARACTERISTICS Cultivation of three sicilian indigenous grape varieties - Nero d Avola, Frappato, Alicante - has given rise to Suber, a wine with an intense red colour and distinctive, complex, highly aromatic taste. Combination of the three varieties gives the wine body and character. The contribution of the Nero d Avola is an aroma of red fruits, such as blackberries or mulberries; the Frappato adds an aftertaste of yellow peach; the Alicante gives Suber alcoholic strength and enriches it with a hint of fragrant spices. Nero d avola From the Hyblean Mountains to the plain of Pachino and Noto, Sicilian vine growers have cultivated the Nero d Avola since time immemorial. It has always been an integral part of the agricultural landscape of south-eastern Sicily. So it is since remotest times that vine growers have been being cultivating Nero d Avola in the district of Caltagirone, where, over the centuries, they have adapted this vine to the area s particular climate and environment. These vines are still grown using traditional techniques and tools, in accordance with organic farming standards and respect for the environment, to produce Suber wine with its typically Mediterranean full-bodied taste and fruity aroma. Frappato Nero Capitano is the name given only in this part of Sicily to Frappato, an indigenous grape variety which has always been used to produce a red wine with distinctive intense traits. Originally from the land around Vittoria, in the province of Ragusa, this variety is now very much a part of the Caltagirone landscape, having adapted perfectly to its climate and sandy-clay soil. Blended with Nero d Avola and Alicante, Frappato unfolds an aroma of yellow peach which intensifies the taste of Suber and gives it a hint of tannin. Alicante Suber s powerful personality is completed by the Alicante grape. The red becomes more intense and the organoleptic properties are augmented with exotic spicy aromas. Alicante comes from nearby Spain and is cultivated in various parts of northern and southern Italy, but is now so much a natural element in the Caltagirone landscape that, after centuries of cultivation, it is considered to be a true indigenous variety. Also bush-trained and organically grown, it has absorbed the special characteristics of this unique land and climate.
The Daino vineyard STEEPED IN TRADITION, TENDED WITH A HUMAN TOUCH, HARVESTED BY HAND For centuries farmers have worked the lands of Caltagirone with wisdom, passing down to the present day their skills in the cultivation of Nero d Avola, Frappato and Alicante, so that these have become typical features of the local lands and culture. The Daino estate cultivates its vineyard using traditional techniques, at the same time protecting the environment and nurturing the natural development of the plant and fruit. The various stages of cultivation are carried out manually: from the design and layout of the vineyard to the subsequent stages of cultivation each vine is personally tended with care and attention. Vine pruning follows the phases of the moon and is done with secateurs made, as in times gone by, by local craftsmen. The surface roots are cut forcing the rooting system to grown down deeper. Emphasis is also placed on so-called green pruning to curb excessive growth during the summer and to contain the foliage. Natural, organic fertilisers (sheep and horse manure) keep the soil well supplied with nutrients, in accordance organic farming standards. The soil around every plant is hoed manually and the ground is worked with the help of a mule. The phase of preparation for the harvest requires careful, constant monitoring of the state of maturation of the grape: in fact, from mid-august onwards the sugar content of the grapes is measured every week. Only once it has been ascertained that the optimal level of ripeness has been reached does the harvest begin. It is carried out strictly by hand in a single day taking care not to damage the fruit and not to exceed a given number of bunches per box, so that the crop is healthy, a necessary prerequisite for a quality wine.
Bush vine cultivation in Sicily FROM THE VINEYARDS OF THE LATIN PEOPLE TO DAINO S: OLD VALUES UNITE WITH HIGH QUALITY MODERN, ORGANIC CULTIVATION Bush-training was the preferred method of planting for the ancient Latin people since the arrangement of the vines in regular rows ensured that the available land was exploited in the best way and gave each plant the right amount of soil and sun. In fact, the sunlight reached all the vines equally and with the same intensity, if we exclude the fact that one plant shades another. The vines were arranged according to a regular geometric design in the form of a rhomboid (quincunx), which kept them in perfect harmony with the land. In keeping with these longstanding vine-growing traditions, the Daino estate decided to bush-train their vines in staggered rows, where the individual plants are part of a system which is constituted by the vineyard as a whole and by the relationships between the vines. In addition, each vine is supported by a chestnut wood stake to which the shoots are tied with twine made from pampas grass (Cortaderia Jubata), a typical Mediterranean maquis plant known in Sicily as liama. Bush vines occupy the space in a three-dimensional way, which allows the wind and the sun to circulate around them. As the old vine growers say, the bee must be able to fly around the vine. Salvo Foti - oenologist Interdependence among the vines is dictated by the symmetry of the system in which the amount of space occupied by each individual vine is constant throughout the entire vineyard. With this cultivation technique, the vineyard behaves like a single organism: it responds to external environmental stimuli and the properties of the soil by developing self-regulatory mechanisms that control the various vegetative and productive stages of the individual vines (root activity, growth of the shoots, fruit production, final product).
Nature, history and art in the Bosco di Santo Pietro Wander through the vineyard which produces Suber wine and breathe in the natural atmosphere of the Bosco di Santo Pietro woods. A profusion of majestic, ancient cork oaks (Quercus Suber, from which our wine gets its name) make this the finest woodland area in the Caltagirone district. And the woods, with their magnificent, luxuriant vegetation, completely surround the Daino estate. The cork oaks, some intact others with their bark stripped, mixed with venerable holm oaks and contorted downy oaks, envelop the landscape in a calming silence. The animals that populate the woods include foxes, weasels, rabbits, hares, tortoises and the very rare wild cat. Frequent sightings can be had of numerous species of birds, such as tits, Sardinian warblers, jays and great spotted woodpeckers, which have made this Controlled Natural Reserve their natural habitat.
Azienda agricola Gianfranco Daino VIA Croce del Vicario, 115 95041, Caltagirone (Catania) Sicilia - Italia TEL (+39) 0933.58226 P.I. 04412350870 WEB: www.vinidaino.it SOCIAL / FB E T: vinidaino concept: doc studio photos: c. poidomani, a. baglieri