Com-St-04-08-04-Fotovoltaico-ENG.pdf
THE FIRST OF THE INSTALLATIONS WILL BE REALISED AND PUT INTO OPERATION AT CONTESSA ENTELLINA BY THE END OF DECEMBER – PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT WITH THE OPENING OF THE NIGHT HARVEST ON THE LANDS OF THE FAMILY.
That the sun is a precious friend to the agricultural lands of Donnafugata, which we look upon with respect and gratitude for the magnificence of the fruits that it gives year after year, there is no doubt, even so, beginning with the next season its benevolent rays will assume an even more important role for the company of the Gattopardo and the territory over which it shines. Indeed, the Rallo family has always paid careful attention to the management of a territory almost completely free of contamination, where nature and history blend together to conserve the ancient enchantment, through rigorous control so that the technical and productive aspects – from the vine to the cellars – will be eco-compatible. They are now making another important decision in the field at the environmental protection level: the realisation of photovoltaic installations with a level of environmental impact equal to zero to satisfy the energy requirements of the lands, and not only. Always in the vanguard and with the intention of providing a “productive” example as much as respecting the land and its richness, the company now intends to make use of alternative energy sources through the realisation of installations that exploit solar power, both on its lands of Agro at Contessa Entellina and on the island of Pantelleria, as well as in the historical family cellars at Marsala.
An ambitious and avant-garde project under the scientific and technological heading. The first phase will be underway with the realisation by the end of this year of an installation on the shelter of 18KW on one side of the Cantina nella Tenuta di Contessa Entellina, where today there stands a small purification plant that will be reconstructed, enabling it, at another location. For the occasion, also the cantina will be enlarged by the end of December 2001 and the beginning of 2002. The new initiative will be given official status during the course of a presentation oress conference at the next Contessa Entellina night harvest, which is held every year among the vines of Donnafugat for journalists, television crews, VIPs and quality wine experts. The exact date for the beginning of the night harvest of the white grapes has not been fixed, but it seems foreseeable – as took place last year – that it will begin in the first days of August.
This initiative, the photovoltaic, again has to do with the policy adopted by the Rallo family of Donnafugata a long time ago, to keep their eyes constantly on how technology can assist in protecting the environment and the delicate eco-system of our earth, of nature and of the countryside, the respect of which also provides advantages from an economic point of view. A policy that looks, well, to the future and to the quality of the products, to be the pioneers of a viticulture in step with the times and with new technological advances, as well as with respect to ancient traditions. The objective is to become a real and true point of reference in the panorama of international enological production. A contamination free and healthy environment is indeed the base of a productive cycle capable of giving higher quality fruit, which only a rich and generous soil like that of Sicily, with its sun and climatic characteristics, can offer.
Public Relations:
Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] tel. 0039 0923 7242267
Laura Ellwanger [email protected] te. 0039 0923 724258
