The Grape Harvest Trek

September 16, 2018
Our excursions in Santo Pietro with Azienda Daino have become a staple of a journey we began two years ago, born from a shared passion for nature exploration and authentic flavors. We’ve designed this hike together with friends, promising a truly unique Sunday.
Here is how we will celebrate the grape harvest: after picking the grapes together, we will crush them and prepare mostarda (a traditional grape must pudding) to enjoy after our meal. Following this, a lunch featuring genuine, organic, and locally sourced products awaits us. At the end of the activity, we will walk towards Mulino Bongiovanni and the Torrente Ficuzza in Contrada Bongiovanni, near the Bosco di Santo Pietro area—a truly original route for almost its entire duration.

Fee: € 30.00 includes guide services, RCT insurance, organization, and lunch at the winery of Gianfranco Daino, a passionate hiker and producer of organic wines, frequently awarded by Slow Food.
The fee does not include: fuel costs for travel.
Meeting point: Sunday, September 16 at 08:30 AM at the S.S. 514 Ragusa/Catania, C/da Coffa Lukoil gas station (Chiaramonte Gulfi) or in front of the Naturalistic Museum in Santo Pietro at 09:30 AM.
End of excursion: 05:00 PM at the Daino winery.
Travel: own car
Difficulty: easy
Loop trail: approximately 2/3 hours of walking – Forest track, marked path.
Required equipment: trekking clothing, small backpack, k-way, hiking boots, waterproof jacket, hat, 1.5 liters of water.
Guide: Salvatore Marletta – 333/4987946 - [email protected]
Salvatore Nicosia – 333.7447419 - [email protected]
Collaborator: Cutrone Vito – 368.7348961- [email protected]

Some technical details about the winery hosting us for this event:
Located in Caltagirone – a UNESCO World Heritage site, in the heart of Sicily, between the Gela plain and the Catania plain. 9,000 vines per hectare, at 325 meters above sea level, inside the Bosco di Santo Pietro, where you can observe majestic, centuries-old cork oaks (Quercus Suber, the name of the wine).
In 1435, the "Maestranza dei Vigneri" was born in Catania. An association of Etna winemakers whose professional expertise puts the producer-vintners at the center. After 500 years, the reality of Etna and eastern Sicily brings experience, research, and "excellence" in viticulture techniques to create products of recognized quality. Non-invasive tools and systems, respect for tradition wherever possible, with the spirit and pleasure of working well without haste, and seeking harmony first with oneself and everything surrounding us—these are the aspects that distinguish the winery we will visit. An organic system of winemaking with respect for the environment.
How the Suber wine is born: Alberello (bush-trained) vine cultivation to offer each plant the right portion of soil and sun. Sunlight reaches all vines equally and with the same intensity, excluding shading between plants. A three-dimensional spatial arrangement that allows the wind and sun to circulate around them. Manual cultivation phases:
-Pruning according to lunar phases, carried out with scissors made, just like in the past, by local artisans. Surface roots are removed to stimulate the plant to grow deeper.
-"Green pruning" to rebalance the plant's vegetation during the summer and contain its canopy.
-The soil is enriched with nutrients, natural and organic fertilization (sheep and horse manure) according to organic farming regulations.
-Soil: sandy and Mediterranean soils, intense red color overlying sandy-arenaceous rocks - ventilated, dry climate, resulting in grapes with harmonious richness and complexity of taste.