In recent days, in the splendid setting of Cefalù, we participated in Sicilia En Primeur, an annual event dedicated to the specialized press, in which Sicilian producers present the new vintages on the market to the most representative journalists of the wine world, and collect their thoughts about the latest collection. This year there was a lot of anticipation for the discussions relating to 2023, a rather difficult year for many Italian territories, but which all in all in Sicily and especially in Lipari proved to be less problematic than elsewhere.
The 2023 wine vintage was in fact particularly performing in the Aeolian Islands, both from a qualitative and organoleptic point of view. From this harvest we will obtain red wines with a strong identity, white wines with a complex aromatic profile, and therefore native wines that are increasingly representative of the territory.
Sicilian producers have demonstrated excellence and competence, focusing on the varietal richness and diversity of the Sicilian territories, managing to skillfully manage the complex climatic challenges. Despite a reduction in quantity of 34.48% compared to the previous year (in terms of total DOC and IGT production), it was the identity, territory and quality of the wines that emerged.
The longest harvest in Italy, which lasted one hundred days, began in the western part of the island in the first ten days of August and ended at the end of October in the vineyards of Etna. In Lipari we began the harvest with the grapes for the ancestral Marsili Rosé and Marsili White methods, namely Pinot Noir and Moscato Bianco, at the beginning of the second ten days of August, and we concluded the harvest of the red grapes around the 10th of October .
“It was a very complex wine-growing year, which highlighted some critical issues linked to the particular aggressiveness of downy mildew, but also revealed a production sector rich in skills, capable of interpreting and enhancing the peculiarities of an unconventional harvest,” he observed the Master of Wine Pietro Russo.
The 2023 harvest in Italy will be remembered as the least productive since 1947. Sicily, like all central-southern and southern areas of Europe, also suffered a 31% decline compared to last year. These production drops, as in other regions, are attributable to the unfavorable spring weather conditions which favored the spread of downy mildew.
The Tenuta di Castellaro Green Team demonstrated great skill, know-how and competence in managing the challenging last harvest. The preventive approach adopted and the careful and careful management by our winemakers were particularly effective, accompanied by advanced agronomic techniques taught by our agronomist Alessandro Zanutto, and the constant monitoring actions that allowed stress conditions to be identified in advance. water and to intervene promptly.
While the Rosa Kaolino 2023 has already been on the market for a few weeks, we will soon be releasing the whites Porticello and Pomice 2023 in the coming weeks. You too will have the chance to judge!
