Mount Etna, Sicily: Camarda Vini
I wilIn August I received a letter from Giuseppe Buonanno:
Hello Sergey...
Next saturday 28th, I will participate to a wine tasting, by Etna area, a small/medium localy wineries event, (I will expone my dried citrus slices, to be coupled with wine), invitation attached...
So, hope by this show, I will gather more di information about small etna wineards....
l wright to you soon...
So I got a poster for the autumn exhibition from Mount Etna. And then I began to correspond with Graziella Camarda, the owner of the Camarda vineyard.
And now, dear readers, an interview with Graziella Camarda on the "Yellow Road".
1 - If it's not a secret, tell us a little more about your family?
I am the daughter of a winemaker who has made of his profession a passion.
This is a passion that can't be described easily, in fact he loves his grape plants as a father loves his childrens. And since I was a child I started to feel the same emotions toward this work and I have always been by his side in the works, manual and tiring jobs, that are rewarded during the harvest.
2 - Your vineyard is located between Mount Etna and the mountains of Nebrodi. What gives this location?
My vineyard Is located in an area very suitable for the cultivation of grape plants in C.da Feudo di Mezzo in Passopisciaro. An important and really strange thing of the position of my vineyard is the fact that is rounded by differents lava flows, the most important are that of 1566 and 1879.
And the most important thing is the soil, dark and rich in mineral salts that gives life to three different types of wine with a great structure and in which Etna is in every gulp.
3 - How is the Nerello Mascalese vine different from other vines?
Nerello Mascalese Is one type of wine tipically of this area, like Minnella or Insolia, etc. But this Red wine has something different, something special, gived by the territory. Few metres can make a difference.
4 - Do you often drink your own wines? Or do you prefer to taste wines from other wine producers?
I really like tasting wine, this Is something certainly. And as I like tasting my wines and see how they changes in the years, I like to see how others wines taste and capture the details of the differents districts, regions and obviously Nations. For example I tasted wines from California, France, Spain when I did a sommeliers course.
5 - The traditional question for winemakers: What is your favorite wine (red or white)? And why?
For me there Is a difference between this two types of wine. Probably my First choice Is White wine, but I really like It principally with easy plates. When I taste Red wine I really appreciate It only if It is ages of a few years.
6 - Another very simple question in this interview: what is your favorite dish?
I love simpleness, so I did not like complicated plates. But I can assure that my favorite are mediterranean dishes , obviously the traditional sicilian menu Is at the top. But, probably, my favorite plate Is pasta with ragù and meat balls that reminds me when my mum cooked It for all my family.
7 - And in continuation of the theme, if not difficult, one or two Still Lifes with your wine?
I can assure that Camarda Nerello Mascalese Is perfect accompanied with grilled Red meats, grilled Lamb chops, grilled vegetables, cheeses and pistacho based dishes. Camarda White wine, that Is a bland of four types of grapes ( mainly Carricante and then Minnella, Catarratto and Insolia) in exchange Is perfect with fishes or younger cheeses. This is a Wine really appreciated, probably because all the grape plants are native of Etna and because they are scattered throughout the vineyard of Nerello Mascalese. Grape plants that were planted during the XIX° century by my Grandfather.
8 - Mount Etna occupies a fairly large area. How can we find your vineyard on the slopes of Etna?
Arriving to my vineyard isn't difficult if you come with the typical FCE or Circumetnea railways, that have this name because passes all the Etna countries.
With the FCE, you have to arrive in Passopisciaro and there I am. With the car I will take you into my vineyard that isn't so far.
But, if you come with the car from the airport, for example, you have to take the A18 motorway and go to Fiumefreddo exit. Then go to Linguaglossa and stay into the SS120, until you arrive in Passopisciaro where I'll attend you.
9 - You can offer the most spectacular view (favorite point) on vineyards or the surrounding landscape.
Sicily Is perfect for spectacular views on vineyards, and mine Is an example. From One side we can see Etna, that particularly in this period Is Always hidden by the clouds, but in Winter/Spring Is perfect, especially because Is covered by the snow. And in the other side we have Nebrodi and a lot of villages very typical, like Mojo Alcantara, Francavilla di Sicilia, etc.
10 - Sicily, like all of Italy, is very, very rich in historical monuments.
You have the land, and not all of it is probably suitable for farming. But I would like some modern cultural projects to have a little more activity of winemakers, because a good art object can become the hallmark of a winery. And what do you think?
The processing of one of the products most famous and loved at the moment, the wine, for me can be considered as a really Art. Is here that, in my opinion, start the interchangeability of the arts. So I am totally agree to the presence of any type of art, like a sample murales into a winery.
11 - Have you thought about developing wine tourism?
Why don't you try to restore small houses in the vineyards, so that lovers of nature, peace and sun could spend a month or two there. First of all, I think about people in creative professions: blogger, writer, artist, sculptor
The work of the VINEYARD KEEPER is to create a new product for you (on a different marketing platform): blog, book + presentation, paintings + exhibition, sculpture + installation of the sculpture in the vineyard (or using it for marketing purposes).
Sure! I totally thought about something like this, but I know that at the moment I am a Little Company and I have to grow up to make up Ideas like this One. More, I can say, that I already have a Little House into my vineyard, but in these years I used It only for tastings.
12 - What white wine producer (from Italy or another country) would you recommend for Yellow Road?
For White wines, as for Red wines, I want to recommend for Yellow Road the wines of M. Calabretta, principally 'Minnella' and 'Carricante'
Sergey Evtuhov,
author of the "Yellow Road" project
