1022 



WINE INDUSTRY 



AGRICUIvTURAIv INDUSTRIEvS. 



INDUSTRIES 

 DEPENDING 

 ON PLANT 

 PRODUCTS 



794 - Table Wines and Blending Wines of Sicily. — mancini camili.o, in cinmaie vini- 



colo. 42nd Year, No. 21, pp. 369-371. Casale Monferrato, May 21, 1916. 



Province of Catania. — This is the province in which wine-growing 

 covers the largest area: iii 940 acres, producing on the average 6875 000 

 bushels of wine, or more than half of the entire production of the island. 

 In view of the special conditions created by Etna, where the vine extends 

 up to more than 3 000 feet, the province of Catania produces very varied 

 wines, from highly alcoholic to the lightest, chiefly red wines, though there 

 are also excellent white wines. 



Red Wines of Etna:i) Wines, of the plain of Mascali (Giarre, 

 Riposto and Acireale), blending wines, with distinct aroma, alcoholic and 

 strongly coloured ; 



2) Wines of the plain of Calatahiano (Piedimonte Etneo, Fiume- 

 freddo, Eaggi, etc.), less alcoholic, aromatic, fairly agreeable, reserved 

 chiefly for local consumption ; 



3) Wines of Feudo, produced in the P'eudo plain ; less coloured and 

 less alcoholic, do not keep so well ; 



4) Wines of the middle mountain zone, grown on the slopes of Etna 

 (Randazzo, Einguaglossa, Castiglione), of ruby colour shading to orange; 

 good taste ; agreeable aroma, medium alcohol content ; 



5) Hi^h mountain wines, grown on Etna at between 2 600 and 3 goo ft 

 altitude ; these are light and tart table wines. 



White Wines: The southern slope of Etna (Viagrande, 

 Zafferana, Trecastagni, Pedasi, Nicolosi) produces good white wines. If 

 allowed to mature by ageing, they constitute excellent table wines. The 

 province of Catania also produces white wines of the Marsala type. 



In 915 wines of this province analysed at the Ro5^al Wine-making 

 School of Catania, the alcohol content ranged from a minimum of 6^ (Giarre) 

 to a maximum of I4°.5 (Acireale). 



Province of Pai^ERMO. — Possesses 55 600 acres of xnnes producing 

 a little more than 22 million gallons of wine of every description, from the 

 commonest to the finest table and blending, white, red and light red. The 

 blending wines with a fine garnet-red colour are produced b^' " perricone " 

 stock ; when blended with the white " catarratto ", the " perricone " 

 gives fine red table wines. These stocks, with the system of " pesta- 

 imbotta " (i), give excellent light red wines. Some white wines, of the 

 Sauterne type, but warmer and more alcoholic, are also known abroad: 

 the Corvo of the Duke of Salaparuta, the Calattubo and the Zitcco. In 



(]) According to the system known in Sicily as " pcsta inibotta ", the uuist, produced 

 by treading the grape with the feet shod with nailed boots in masonry vats, is collected in 

 " mastelli " (lower vats), from which it is conveyed to casks (which are filled ^/g) to complete 

 alcoholic fermentation. — Cf. Dr. Antonio Sannino, Trattato compldu di Enologia, Vol. II, 

 p. 39. Conegliano, 1907. (Ed.) 



