Aegisthus son of Thyestes and of his daughter, Pelopia. Cassandra, daughter of King Priam and not listened to because Apollo placed a curse on her so that no one would ever believe her predictions. Agamemnon, one of the main protagonists of the Trojan war.
These are some of the mythological characters that inspired the labels of the cellar Orestiadivini from Gibellina. The young company near Trapani was born just two years ago. Founded from the co-operative cellar Ermes, a pioneer of the Pinot Grigio in Sicily, always oriented towards unbottled wine with its 1200 members and 5000 hectares of vineyard, Orestiadivini represents the best of a co-operative on bottled wines.
“We decided to point on a new type of territory communication through wine”, explained Rosario Di Maria, the young administrator of Orestiadivini, and “to make a product which is synonymous of quality, so we invested on all the aspects of the production line, starting three years ago in the Ermes cellar, to the work in the vineyards, to the bottle, with the creation of labels that convey the history of our territory”. A well-known territory since the 1800 for its wine, produced with native and international vines that the Ermes cellars start to harvest on the first of August, but also for its fertile lands, the archaeological area of Segesta with the Doric temple and the Greek theatre, and Selinunte. Without forgetting Mazara del Vallo, famous for the fishing sector, the Castello dei Conti di Modica in Alcamo, head of the regional collection of wines, and Gibellina, an “en plein air” museum in which art blends with everyday life.
The name Orestiadi recalls the name of the foundation lead by senator Ludovico Corrao, partner of the company. “We are working together in order to give value to the most suggestive corners of our island through the history and culture of wine”, continued the manager, “instead of the clichés that haven’t given prestige to Sicily”. Thanks to this partnership the company has the chance to test periodically the consumers’ preferences. “Every week the Orestiadi Foundation organizes exhibitions and meetings that allow visitors to taste wines”, he said, “and so orient our production in the right direction”.
The results are excellent, so much so, that we won two prizes at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles: a gold medal for the Grillo Egisto 2009 and a silver medal for the Syrah Cassandra 2008. More than the 500 hundred thousand grapes which arrive at the Ermes cellar, 99% is processed to obtain unbottled wine, and just 1%, which is composed of the top-quality grapes, is bottled. Moreover, thanks to recent investments, this year processing was transferred to the experimental cellar of Alcamo. “The channel we chose is Horeca even if we are studying new lines for the Gdo”, explained the marketing director, Alessandro Parisi, “and the foreign countries to which we send our wines are China, the USA, Canada and in Europe Germany, France, Belgium and Great Britain”. The strategy of Orestiadivini has at least three secrets: the relationship between the history and its territory, the average age of our team, 30 years old, and last but not least, the “bottom-up” approach. “It is fundamental to start from the bottom for the promotion of our wines”, ended Parisi, “talking about history and mythology with a language that everybody can understand”. The next appointment with Orestiadivini is scheduled for Friday 14th of May at the Orestiadi Foundation in Gibellina, with the present of the governor of Sicily, Raffaele Lombardo.
Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute
