This years 4 day Italian wine fair had many reasons to be anticipated, beloved, and looked back upon fondly. Not only was it the first in person conference since 2019, there were many firsts for various wine groups. The Historical Super Tuscans Committee hosted it’s first tasting, showcasing wines in the IGT Toscana category. Joe Bastianich, winery owner and restaurateur, played a bluegrass concert in the Cortile Mercato Vecchio. A light show called “Amygdala .n” was projected on the Baroque façade of the 170th century Palazzo Maffei.
And excited news for Tommasi winery, as detailed by Alison Napjus.
“Veneto’s Tommasi Winery Hits the Slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna
The Tommasi family, which this year celebrates 120 years as producers of Amarone in Veneto’s Valpolicella area, announced the acquisition of a 36-acre property in the town of Linguaglossa on Mount Etna. The agreement was signed with the Bambara-De Luca family, longtime hoteliers in the nearby seaside town of Taormina, and it includes a 16,000-square-foot cellar facility as well as vines planted to Etna’s distinctive Nerello Mascalese and Carricante grape varieties.
“Etna is an area that has always fascinated us,” executive director Pierangelo Tommasi told Wine Spectator. “It is almost mystical with the presence of the volcano and the breathtaking views that reach the sea of Taormina. [It is] a territory marked by different lava flows, where we want to test ourselves as winegrowers, more than as wine entrepreneurs.”
With this expansion to Sicily, Tommasi Family Estates now owns over 1,900 acres of vineyards spread among estates throughout Italy, with much of that growth taking place in the past 25 years. Along with Tommasi in Veneto and the yet-to-be-named property in Sicily, the family also produces wine from two different winery locations in Tuscany, a winery each in Lombardy, Basilicata and Puglia, and an upcoming project in Umbria scheduled for 2023. Of their new Sicilian estate, Tommasi added, “We will respect the characteristics and traditions of the territory of Etna, but we are the first Venetians to arrive there and we will certainly bring an entrepreneurial impulse inherent in our nature that will be a stimulus for everyone in the region.”—A.N.”
Read the full article HERE
