The Centenary vines of VINUPETRA – Etna Rosso

In Sicilian dialect, Vinupetra means “wine produced in a land full of stones”. The cultivation of the vineyard is done by hand. using natural products. Biotechnologies are not used in winemaking. Racking and bottling are carried out according to the phases of the moon. All bottles are numbered and carry their number on the front label. Contrada:  Porcaria in the municipality of Castiglione di Sicilia – Northern Etna at 580 m a.s.l. Plot:  The Centenary vines of VignaCalderara (“Viti Centenarie di Vinupetra”) Varieties:  Nerello Mascalese 80%, Nerello Cappuccio 10%, Granache 10%
INFORMATION

Number of vines: 1,350 

Number of vines (approx..):  1,300

Area of plot in hectares (approx.):  0.15

Vine density per hectare:  10,000

Vineyard year:  Over one hundred years old, many ungrafted

Vineyard training:  Alberello Etneo with chestnut posts

Kg of selected grapes produced on average per hectare:  1,150

Litres of wine produced on average per hectare:  800

Number of 0.75L bottles total produced on average:  1,000

Harvest:  second half of October

Winemaking:  Crushing of the grapes of which 30% with the stalks. Maceration on the skins for no less than 15 days in wooden casks

Yeast:  autochthonous yeasts for Etnean Palmento

Duration of alcoholic fermentation:  10 days

Duration of refinement: in casks/barrels, 225L and 500L for 12-18 months and in the bottle for at least 1 year

Filtration:  only during bottling

Clarification:  natural settling

Racking:  5 times

Addition of sulphur dioxide: in small doses before fermentation and bottling

Average alcohol content:  14%

Average total acidity:  6.2 g/l

Average pH:  3.35

Total sulphur in the newly bottled wine on average:  50 mg/l

Bottling: in May of the second year following the harvest

First Production Year: 2006 and later in 2016

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VINEYARD MAP

The Vineyard is as the crow flies:

15 Km from the Central Crater of Mt. Etna and Km 20 from the Ionian Sea.
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Average yearly rainfall: 800 mm

Soil: volcanic, characterized by a lava patch covering a large area. There are “outcrops” of Lava and pyroclasticis with degraded surface morphology” (Mongibello Antico-Mongibello Recente) (Geological Map of Mt. Etna, CNR 1979), where paedogenetic processes, favoured by low and flat morphology, have generated an average deep soil rich in small and medium-sized volcanic stones that cover most of the land.