(ANSA) - PALERMO- Fresh aromas of spices and cherries, those of a wine that expresses in a universally appreciated territorial and cultural characteristics of the island: it is Nero D'Avola, whose 2020 vintage is considered excellent, both from the quantitative and qualitative.
Considered the most important black grape variety in Sicily, today it is widely present in all Sicilian provinces and is the most cultivated in the provinces of Agrigento and Caltanissetta.
According to what was highlighted by the Consortium for the Protection of Vini Doc Sicilia, 14,749 hectares of vineyards throughout Sicily produced 49,471,172 certified bottles, about 10 million more than in 2018.
"Although 2020 is remembered as the year of multiple complexities - underlines Antonio Rallo, president of the Consortium for the Protection of Vini Doc Sicilia - Nero D'Avola has achieved an excellent result from the production point of view, thanks to the favorable climatic conditions but also to the commitment of the many producers. With about 50 million bottles a year in 2020 and 2021, Nero d'Avola is a product of absolute excellence, which has contributed to making Sicily known in the world ".
An evening of tasting was dedicated to Nero D'Avola, with about 40 journalists from all over Italy, paired with the dishes of chef Carlo Cracco in his restaurant in the Galleria in Milan, who created a vegan menu: "We have developed an unusual menu - he explains - identifying ingredients, such as asparagus, mushrooms, cabbage or savoy cabbage, which could enhance the potential of such a powerful and elegant wine, traditionally linked to animal proteins, but which binds very well in an unexpected way with the vegetable world: Nero D'Avola is a wine that goes beyond ".
Precisely guarding the "Vineyard Sicily", producing Sicilian vines with certification that certifies their sanitary integrity and varietal identity and giving value and support to the quality of Sicilian wines, these are the objectives of the "Valorisation of viticultural germplasm" project presented. during the evening, promoted and supported by the Consortium for the Protection of Vini Doc Sicilia in partnership with the Regional Department of Agriculture of the Sicilian Region, the University of Palermo and the Regional Center for the conservation of viticultural and agricultural biodiversity "F. Paulsen ".
The project aims to conserve the biodiversity generated by the 3,000 years of viticulture on the island and its indigenous varieties and to intervene upstream of the wine production chain,
With almost 98 thousand hectares, the Sicilian vineyard is the largest in Italy, in Europe it has the same extension as the German vineyard.
Sicily is also the first region in Italy for the area under organic vines.
"The Consortium's mission has always been to strengthen the identity of Sicilian wines, improving their quality, image and positioning on the market. - underlines the president Antonio Rallo - The project in support of the" Sicily Vineyard "therefore becomes central to us for the development of Sicilian enology and we are proud to be able to support it alongside the other institutions involved ".
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