Tasca d'Almerita - Tenuta Whitaker

During my recent trip to Sicily, I braved the rugged and unpaved roads (often cutting through farms and vineyards) and completely unreliable directions provided by Google Maps to visit Tasca d'Almerita’s Tenuta Regaleali estate. It was worth every stressful moment. This is just one of their five wineries in Sicily, within a mountainous area at the center of the Island. The estate is a polyculture farm that covers 550 hectares, with vineyards that run up and down along the valley, bordered by four high-elevation hills. It’s completely secluded from the outside world. I chose this site to meet Alberto Tasca for its unique character—a location that few wine lovers would imagine exists in Sicily. Their highest elevation vineyards are upwards of 900 meters. “Do you understand the concept? I want the grapes and the place to speak through the wine. Different places with the same methodology.” Alberto Tasca repeated these words during the tasting. This ethos runs throughout their lineup, whether it’s Nerello Mascalese from Etna, Syrah from Sallier de La Tour, Malvasia from the Island of Salina, Grillo from Tenuta Whitaker on the western coast or the renowned Rosso del Conte from 60-year-old vines at the Tenuta Regaleali estate. Tasca d'Almerita focuses on indigenous and international grapes, yet they work to ensure that the varieties are only grown in a location that best suits them. The five wineries are sustainable, as Tasca refuses to follow just one application that may work well in one area but not another. As a result, organic and biodynamic methods are included in their repertoire, but they consider these conventional practices if they are the only way to achieve a healthy harvest. That said, they use neither fertilizer nor herbicides in the production of their wines. Alberto Tasca explains, “We want to respect tradition while being innovative and experimental…We have families on this farm who have worked here for four generations and have the knowledge handed down over one hundred years. For them, organic was normal, but today it is a trend.” The level of quality produced throughout this portfolio is impressive, especially considering the size of the Tasca operation, and yet, from top to bottom, the wines speak for themselves.