Com_St_2010_05_14_CantineAperte_ENG.pdf
Cantine Aperte, or Open Cellars, one of the most intriguing events in the Italian wine world, will be held at Donnafugata once again. On Sunday, May 30 the Sicilian winery will open its historic Marsala cellars to wine-lovers, renewing its contribution to the growing wine tourism trend.
Young people and adults, even families with small children, can enter the great Sicilian winery from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to experience the excitement of a site devoted to the art of winemaking. Guests will be welcomed with customary professionalism in an atmosphere of upbeat, relaxed conviviality.
On this occasion the estates of Contessa Entellina and Pantelleria will be presented, describing how the vines are cultivated and the grapes made into wines, as well as the refinement methods used in the Marsala cellars.
The program includes a guided tour of the cellars and in particular of the splendid underground barrique room where some of Donnafugata’s best-loved wines mature in barrels.
The highlight of this tour through steel and cement vats as well as French oak casks, will be a tasting of all wines: from Lighea, made solely from Zibibbo grapes, to the extraordinary Ben Ryé Passito di Pantelleria, passing through the reds based on Nero d’Avola. Knowledge, but above all fun: a delightful, festive day spent tasting Donnafugata wines in personal contact with their producers.
Something new this year will be devoted to everyone wishing to discover some “secrets” of matching wines to foods: Cheese, Music & Wine. This is a multi-sensorial workshop of Sicilian cheeses, wine and music, “savored” through a special guided tasting. The workshop will be held in the lovely Barrel Room and reserved to a limited number of people per workshop, of which there will be two in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Furthermore the GIUNTI al Punto bookshop is providing a reading nook in the shade of the hundred-year-old olive trees adorning the courtyard of the wine warehouse for those interested in some of the finest wine & food publications. And so that little ones won’t be overlooked, this year, too, there will entertainment for children (4 to 12 years of age).
Enel-si will be presenting the latest ideas for energy-savings and producing clean energy to the families and enterprises that, like Donnafugata, are very concerned about protecting the environment (the photovoltaic installations on the winery’s various estates provide 118 kW of solar energy).
Cantine Aperte, a nationwide event now in its 17th edition, is therefore an appetizing occasion for discovering or getting reacquainted with the places and people giving life to Italy’s great wines (www.movimentoturismovino.it).
Public Relations:
Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] tel. 0039 0923 7242267
Laura Ellwanger [email protected] te. 0039 0923 724258
