The bet of Sicily of the wine is called Mamertino. On the occasion of 53rd edition of Vinitaly of Verona, theMamertine Producers Association, a production area extended over 34 municipalities in the province of Messina which, from the Tyrrhenian coast, climbs hills, woods and hills to characterize one of the most extraordinary and biodiverse viticultural habitats of Sicily: the Park of the Nebrodi.

The history, the present and the tomorrow of Mamertino

The Mamertine was the wine loved by the theRoman emperors, drunk by Julius Caesar to celebrate the victory of the second consulate. The name derives from the Lucanian population who arrived on the island during the first Punic war (264 – 241 BC), to fight the Phoenicians. Today the productive fabric of the Mamertino is represented by small family businesses with an average of 3 or 4 hectares. The vineyards cover an area slightly less than 100 hectares total for a production of just 100 thousand bottles. "They are small productions, "he says Flora Mondello, producer and new president of the Association, "which must be driven by the receptive system and by local and Sicilian restaurants, still too little involved in this phase of rebirth and communication dedicated to the wines of the Mamertine".

The objective of the Association is to start a first nucleus from which to develop, one day, the Consortium for the Protection of the Denomination (recognized in 2004) and thus modify the product specification which currently does not provide for the possibility of bottling in purity Nocera, relic vine from which a contemporary wine of great longevity is obtained.

"The Mamertine," adds Flora Mondello, "is a small jewel of our wine-growing history which, although coming from a glorious and remote past, can interpret a really interesting and competitive enological modernity." It is in fact the specific pedoclimatic conditions expressed by these territories and the interaction of these with the vines implanted to define the enological identity of an area so differentiated, for soils, climate and exposure. A territory very rough in its morphology, open to the sea, but with heights that even reach 500 meters. The types allowed by the production disciplinary are mainly four: Bianco and Bianco Riserva; Red and Red Reserve; Calabrese or Nero d’Avola and Calabrese or Nero d’Avola Riserva and finally Grillo – Ansonica or Grillo – Inzolia.

The 13 companies who have joined are: Antica Tindari, Barone Ryolo, Bongiovanni Giuseppe, Calderone Antonino, Cambria Vini, Feudo Solaria, Gaglio Vignaioli, Mimmo Paone, Planeta, Princes of Mola, Sapuri Cantina Siciliana, Vasari and Vigna Nica.

"Our strength is to be united", concludes Flora Mondello. «To make our territory take off, a synergy between tourism and the restaurant world is certainly needed. The association represents the best synthesis, the will to grow together and to accelerate processes of valorization in a tourist and cultural key, with extremely positive economic consequences. The Mamertine is an effective driver for the development of these companies and the territories in which it insists. Many attractions in the area of ​​the Mamertino as the Sanctuary of the Black Madonna and the archaeological area of ​​Tindari, the medieval village of Montalbano Elicona and the Castle of Milazzo, the town from which you embark for the Aeolian Islands. Making system will make the territory win and the Mamertino will have to be the identity resource able to generate value and sustainability of this landscape .