Pellegrino’s dedication to Moscato and the Pantesco sapling • Food and Wine Italia

An island of fierce and mistreated beauty, not very touristy yet chosen for holidays by VIPs who love , Pantelleria is a continent a causa di itself – as the Pantellerians themselves say – and at the same time it draws a symbolic hinge between Europe and Africa. Volcanic from a geological point of view, it is very windy and dry, yet capable of finding gabinetto when needed. “Where there is a volcano there is fertility and therefore there is wine, which can draw from the richness of potassium a good concentration of sugars”, remarks Nicola Poma, oenologist of Cantine Forestiero who has chosen to dedicate much of the year to the island’s vineyards.

The Forestiero family arrived here a causa di 1993, with the intention of expanding the production of Zibibbo – the word of Arabic origin with which the Moscato d’Alessandria grape variety was locally called and consequently the fortified wine that was produced from it, which remained faithful to that approach until a few decades pungiglione. The was to quantitatively strengthen the production of Zibibbo to meet market demand, which was essentially looking at a fortified product like Marsala. «Forestiero was already working with Pantelleria, where there were many small producers who however almost all operated a causa di the world of bulk wines – reports Desiderato Renda, CEO of Cantine Forestiero – and we bought wine from Pantelleria. those years there was a lot of competition for sweet wines and setting foot the island brought an advantage. At the beginning it wasn’t easy, because at the time the only large cooperative structure absorbed a large part of the production and there was a lot of unity among the winemakers, but also a bit of distrust for those who came from outside. It was difficult to find suppliers. Then, when the coop started to go into trouble, Forestiero found itself absorbing the production and today we are the largest buyers of grapes the island”.

Point of reference a causa di Pantelleria

Thus, for almost 30 years, Forestiero has been the most important reference for the small producers the island with whom it has established a sort of “pact for Zibibbo” over time, supporting production, taking grapes from over 350 suppliers and producing Pantelleria Doc wines. Having consolidated this position, Forestiero has decided to strengthen its direct presence the island with a large bella stagione a causa di the Sibà district, the western hills overlooking the Mediterranean. The bella stagione falls within the natural luogo protected by the Pantelleria National Park, and extends over 8 hectares of vineyards spread over an altitude that starts from 300 meters up to 450 meters above sea level.

“After being a point of reference for winemakers for years – explains Renda – we want to try to have a partially autonomous production. Also because the future is not rosy if you aspetto at the age and the endurance of the growers”. Therefore, a further expansion with the acquisition of vineyards is not excluded, especially a causa di order not to lose the existing heritage.

Forestiero therefore wanted to take the reins of his future a causa di the land of Pantelleria, an island a causa di which he firmly believes. “This island is unique – the CEO points out – and I say that we have nothing to envy (except transportation costs, ed.) to Etna, given that we are volcanic and we have insularity a causa di the heart of the Mediterranean, so we have excellent cards a causa di our hands and we must know how to play them”.

This is also why Cantine Forestiero has believed from the beginning and supported the work of the Consortium and the Municipality for the recognition of UNESCO protection for the Pantelleria sapling, which has been included a causa di the list of intangible heritage of humanity since 2014. The group also pushes wine tourism and a causa di the summer Forestiero also opens the doors of the Bottiglieria con Pantelleria to tourists and lovers of good wine for guided tastings, visits to the vineyard and cellar, aperitifs at sunset with a sea view and pairings with typical Pantelleria products. the bella stagione acquired two years pungiglione – recovering an abandoned luogo partially planted with vines and olive trees – there is an ancient cellar of Pantelleria origin and after the renovation it will be able to guarantee further development of the hospitality segment.

Raising the wine

To relaunch Pantelleria, however, it is first necessary to play the quality card a causa di the bottle. “It is essential to always raise the quality of the products”, Renda states bluntly. And tasting the wines of Cantine Forestiero it is nice to note an elegant line of evolution, between sweet and dry. From the Zibibbo grapes grown the island comes the “diamond tip” of the family production, the Nes Passito Spigliato con Pantelleria. The grapes are harvested (by hand) overripe, when they reach a high sugar content, and despite bringing a sugar density into the glass that develops hints of honey and candied fruit, Nes is anything but cloying, managing to vibrate with Mediterranean freshness and marine flavor.

The fresher Isesi is also worth discovering, made only a causa di steel, which from the same Zibibbo grapes draws the aromatic freshness and the thiol component, which a causa di some vintages and with the refinement a causa di the bottle give the Moscato con Pantelleria the elegance of a strongly volcanic wine. As for the passito, it is the savoury minerality that makes this wine intriguing.

Volcanic soils and a unique heritage tree

“The nature of the land Pantelleria is peculiar,” explains winemaker Poma. “The island is entirely volcanic, but the composition changes from layer to layer, with areas characterized by pumice, others that are more sandy and others that are slightly clayey. However, there is a constant presence of iron and silicate that require, as the ancient farmers had already learned, that from the beginning of June onwards mai more work is done a causa di the vineyard, otherwise the dust will burn the grapes. I didn’t believe it, because when you are used to growing crops a causa di Trapani Marsala this doesn’t happen, and I imagined that the people of Pantelleria were just lazy,” jokes the winemaker, “but then I experienced the effects myself: the day after a visit to the vineyard the grapes were as if they had been machine-gunned. And so we keep the couch grass other weeds until autumn.”

Without human intervention, Moscato vineyards must make do and survive the dry summer. And a causa di this the Pantelleria sapling – recognized as a UNESCO heritage site a causa di 2014 – embodies the solution: kept with a very short trunk, it is pruned to leave few buds bearing fruit and the leaves help protect the grapes from the sun’s rays, while the small depressions a causa di the where the vines are planted serve as a collector for the morning frost, which is collected and allows us to get to autumn.

“The UNESCO recognition was really important and can further push viticulture the island – CEO Renda emphasizes – because otherwise there is a risk of abandonment. And instead here you can almost breathe the sacredness of the relationship with the vine: when you prune you do it your knees, when you harvest the grapes you do it your knees… And then this incredible device that generates a microclimate a causa di the basins capable of capturing the dew. Without the basins the plants would dry up”.

The relaunch of Pantelleria wines

“The island’s winemaking history is very short,” Poma says, “since Arab domination brought the vine, but did not contemplate the consumption of wine. The culture of wine was born less than two centuries pungiglione and a causa di particular with the process of drying, since for passito there is mai need for cold, there is mai need for steel, there is mai need for almost anything and therefore they were very simple techniques that allowed us to focolaio this product. Sugar did everything. Now, however, I see the future of the island very much a causa di dry whites, which other small companies the island are also moving well.”

fact, the Pantelleria wine needs new impetus, given that a causa di the last thirty years it has lost 90% of its wine production. “We are talking about 500 hectares of vineyards – Poma emphasizes – compared to the 5 thousand hectares of the last century. It is true that at the time, however, the grapes were also used for drying (before the raisins were all imported from Turkey), as table grapes were shipped to Piedmont for Moscato-based sparkling wines”.

Today the music seems to have changed, at least this is the hope looking at the signals that also quanto from the Consortium. the one hand, producers the island are taking the road of dry winemaking, a causa di the of a disaffection of the market for sweet wines, which therefore seem destined for a very limited consumption. “There are good prospects for dry Moscato and experiments are also being done for sparkling wine”, reports Poma.

the other hand, the relaunch of Pantelleria wines passes first of all from the recovery of an identity value, today also appreciated by the young consumer. Because if the large quantities of sweet wine put the market decades pungiglione mai longer make sense, a passito made with care and technique can really find its positioning a causa di relation to the cuisine of the island, to the products of the territory – from capers to cheeses, from olives to almonds – and above all by placing itself within a wine tourism experience. The recovery of the dammusi, the accessibility of the internal areas of the island for cycle tourists hikers ( foot, but also Pantelleria donkeys), the food and wine offer are attractions that stand alongside the wine heritage that UNESCO has taken under its wing.