Can a pharmacist become a wine-maker? The answer is yes, and an example is Paolo Calì, who owns a wine company near Ragusa. His adventure in this new world started in 2001,when he received from his father the family company. The legacy included not only the company but also 15 hectares of vineyard and 300 years of wine history, that the vigneron managed to recuperate thanks to a real museum.
“After the first harvest, we decided to enlarge our space and we made a wine-archaeological finding”, he said, “we found an old millstone that dated back to the 1700, which had also been used for the processing of citrus fruit, and we also discovered a canal that transported the must from the millstone to the cellar”. So Paolo Calì kept this discovery visible and built another modern millstone where now thousands of bottles are produced.
“This territory is fraught with old millstones and cellars, they were at 300 metres from each other in order to help those who worked in vineyards”.
The strength of the company also lies in its terroir: “We are 10 kilometres away from the sea, but our vineyards are located on prehistoric sea dunes”, explained Paolo Calì, “which represent the real excellence of this territory”. The result is that tourists, especially the ones that come from abroad, like walking in the vineyard without shoes and sometimes find sea fossils in the sand.
“This unusual terroir obviously reflects the peculiarities of our wines, giving them a fine and delicate scent”. The 15 hectares are divided into three lots, Pruvuletta, Niscia and Forfice, which are located in the well-known Salmè district. The vines cultivated are Nero D’Avola and Frappato.
Paolo Calì worked together with Donato Lanati, director of Enosis from Alessandra, one of the most important wine experts in Italy. “Since he first arrived we committed ourselves to oenology and countryside”, confessed the wine-maker, and “a week before the harvest we examine all our vineyards”. A real scientific and technical guide that studied the aromas of Frappato.
The expert also worked on Nero D’Avola in order to obtain a product which was not influenced by other vines and processed without the use of wood. “The aim is to exalt primary and secondary aromas, minerals and scents, apricot, pomegranate, cherries and also tobacco and violet”, underlined Calì, obtaining a product which is more suitable to a woman’s taste”.
Vinification is brought forward through yeasts that come directly from France, but for Nero D’Avola the wine-makers used the yeast selected by the Regional Institute for Wine and Vine that “gives excellent results”.
But there are no roses without thorns. “We cannot use machines for cultivation”, he said, “and so we must work on 60 kilometres of vineyards by hand in order to eliminate superficial roots”. This cultivation technique obviously has an economic impact on the activity but it is also “extremely fascinating”.
And also profitable since the Cerasuolo di Vittoria Docg that the company produces was chosen by Ais to celebrate, together with other wine companies, the recent award given to the Conegliano Valdobbiadene at the 44th edition of “Dogc d’Itlaia”, an event organized in May by the Consorzio di Tutela del Conegliano Valdobbiadene at the San Salvatore castle in Susegana, in the province of Treviso.
AZIENDA AGRICOLA PAOLO CALI’. Registered office: via Cancellieri, 48 – 97019 Vittoria (RG). Telephone and fax: 0932 510082; mobile phone: 00393337276215. cellar: c.da Salmè – S.P. Vittoria-Pedalino km 2 – 97019 Vittoria (RG). Website: www.vinicali.it; e-mail:info@vinicali.it.
Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute
