Wine&Go Trekking - A Stroll Along the Stream

April 03, 2022
Our excursions in Santo Pietro with Azienda Daino are now part of a journey that began years ago, born from a shared passion for exploring nature and authentic flavors. We have designed this hike together with friends, aiming for a Sunday spent pleasantly exploring a truly original itinerary in the Bosco di Santo Pietro area. We set off in search of ancient mills, following the Torrente Ficuzza for almost its entire length, walking through the woods. During our walk, we will encounter the ruins of water mills and admire a rich vegetation of cork oaks and holm oaks, with a dense undergrowth of butcher's broom, smilax, and horsetail. As for the fauna, we may spot porcupines, hares, wild rabbits, weasels, and foxes. Among the birds, we can observe various species including the jay, the great spotted woodpecker, the penduline tit, and the kestrel.
At the end of the hike, we will reach our welcoming spot, treated to a view of the vineyard and the simplicity and excellent quality of our lunch, crowned by superb wine.

Fee: € 35.00 - Includes guide services, accident insurance, and organization, lunch at the winery of Gianfranco Daino, a passionate hiker and producer of organic wines, multi-awarded by Slow Food on numerous occasions. For insurance purposes, we kindly ask you to send us your: full name and tax code (codice fiscale).
The fee does not include: travel fuel costs.
Meeting point: Sunday, April 03 in Santo Pietro at 09:00 AM at the Bar, Pizzeria, Gelateria, “La Pineta”. Click here for the Google Maps location.
https://goo.gl/maps/tdymQQemyrhv1SqX9
End of excursion: 05:00 PM at Azienda vitivinicola Daino.
Travel: own car
Difficulty: moderate
Route: approx. 4 hours of walking – Forest track, marked and unmarked paths.
Required equipment: trekking clothing, small backpack, k-way, hiking boots, waterproof jacket, hat, 1.5 liters of water.
N.B. The excursion will be conducted in accordance with current Covid-19 regulations. A few days before the hike, we will send you an email with the latest information.
Guide: Salvatore Marletta: contact 3334987946 - Email: [email protected]
www.ciaotrekking.com

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 majestic, centuries-old cork oaks (Quercus Suber, the name of the wine) can be seen.
In Catania, in 1435, the "Maestranza dei Vigneri" was born. An association of Etna winemakers whose viticultural professionalism puts producer-winemakers at the forefront. After 500 years, the reality of Etna and eastern Sicily brings, through experience, the research and technique of "excellence" viticulture, resulting in products of recognized quality. Non-invasive tools and systems, respect for tradition wherever possible, with the spirit and pleasure of working well and doing things without haste, seeking harmony first and foremost with oneself and everything surrounding us—these are the aspects that distinguish the winery we will visit. An organic system of viticulture with respect for the environment.
How the Suber wine is born: vine training using the "Alberello" (bush-trained) method 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 shears made, as in the past, by local artisans. Surface roots are removed to stimulate the plant to grow deep. "Green pruning" to rebalance the plant's vegetation during the summer period 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-sandstone rocks - ventilated, dry climate, resulting in grapes with harmonious richness and taste complexity.