On the very best volcano in Europe, the magic quantity is 142: the contrade of Etna represented on a vibrant new map simply launched by the Consorzio Tutela Vini Etna DOC. Within the age of viticultural cartography, the Sicilian district has embraced ‘zoning’ to reinforce each single nuance of its territory, largely cultivated with Nerello Mascalese and Carricante.
‘This map establishes the complete viticultural maturity of our district and underlines the perspective of its winemakers to crew up,’ mentioned Francesco Cambria, president of the Consorzio.
The event of ‘contrade’ is intertwined with the historical past of Etna, the oldest DOC on the island, based in 1968. ‘My father wrote the primary disciplinary. Certainly one of its articles already talked about the historic manufacturing subzones, even when at the moment there wasn’t actually a whole record,’ mentioned Marco Nicolosi Asmundo, councillor of the Consorzio and proprietor of Barone di Villagrande, the oldest vineyard within the Etna space.
The map displaying the 142 contrade. Credit score: Consorzio Tutela Vini Etna DOC
Advanced terroir
An modification of the disciplinary in 2011 recognised as many as 133 contrade, legally equal to Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive (UGA: ‘further geographical items’). Marc de Grazia of Tenuta delle Terre Nere fought for that purpose: ‘Etna is the Burgundy of the Mediterranean due to the intense diversification of its soils,’ he argued. ‘The exact identification of every contrada of origin of the grapes is of essential significance for us winegrowers.’ And the late Andrea Franchetti of Passopisciaro vineyard actually believed in it: in 2008 he created the acclaimed annual occasion, ‘Contrade dell’Etna’.
The visible influence of the contrade on the brand new map is outstanding, formed like a crescent moon surrounding the volcano from north to southwest. 9 new additions have been made to the prevailing 133 contrade, bringing the overall to 142. Of those, 41 are positioned in Castiglione di Sicilia, 25 in Randazzo, 20 in Zafferana Etnea, 13 in Piedimonte Etneo, 10 in Linguaglossa, 9 in Trecastagni, eight in Milo, six in Viagrande, 5 in Biancavilla, 4 in Santa Venerina and one in Santa Maria di Licodia.
This work helps overcome the normal distinction of vineyards being positioned merely on completely different slopes of Etna, which doesn’t adequately characterize the complexity of the terroir – even when the contrade stay troublesome to outline. They don’t seem to be merely ‘cru’ or ‘subzones’, as they relate not solely to the thought of area (the geography of the territory) but additionally to that of time (alluding to geology). ‘Every contrada is the results of millenary sedimentations of ashes, lapilli and pumice. Its boundaries are as a result of volcano and alter in keeping with its incessant exercise,’ defined de Grazia.
The brand new map additionally helps make clear the altitude of the vineyards: there’s a sure influence in seeing 1,000m for the contrade set on the inside fringe of the crescent moon.
The following research will give attention to the pedoclimatic traits of every particular person contrada. ‘We need to arrive even deeper to carry out the variations throughout the denomination, whose extension now exceeds 1,000 hectares. It’s a work in progress, in spite of everything on Etna nothing is ever definitive,’ concluded Cambria.
