A project that started 200 years ago
Our story has its roots at the beginning of the 1800’s when great grandfather Giuseppe moved from Siracusa to Pachino and bought “Le Buonvini”, a farm with a winery and olive oil press on a hill that was planted in vines, olives and carob that quickly became the summer residence of the family.
The farm passed down from one generation to the next and finally to Corrado in 1990. He renewed the vineyards respecting the typical ways of the zone, bought a small commercial olive press, and bought back some land that once belonged to the property and is famous for the quality of the wine. He started the conservative restoration of the old house, renewing the farmers’ homes and the warehouses and started producing his own power with solar panels. In 1997 the property officially became a certified organic farm.
In 2002 the big turning point: as if it were a fairytale, in only three months, the first wine of the property shapes up: the DOC Eloro “La Favola”. Ten years of work and organic experimental fields, it was introduced into the most important international markets and, in 2014, another great revolution: the old family estate “Le Buonivini”, opened its doors to the public promoting projects and cultural meetings.
A shared estate
Corrado and Valeria Gurrieri consider themselves as “permanent guests” on their family estate. The family is quite unique: horses, dogs, and chickens play a recognized and protected role and they are considered part of the enlarged family of the Tenuta la Favola
An area called “Buonivini” (i.e. good wines)...
La Tenuta la Favola is an organic winery recognized in the world, led by a family team: Corrado Gurrieri and Valeria Valenza. 15 hectares of vineyards and olive groves, stone walls and experimental organic fields. It is an incredible journey into experimentation and biodiversity.
Located in an important area between Pachino and Rosolini, just ten minutes from the most beautiful beaches of southeast Sicily, the farm has been in the family for generations. Since 2014 it has been a place to stay and relax with apartments inside the old courtyard, a kitchen facing the Nero d’Avola vineyards and the “Artists’ cottage” in the middle of the experimental vineyard. To the north you can see the plume of smoke rising above Mount Etna, and to the south the blue of the Mediterranean and Ionian seas. The paths between the vines are white with limestone and at night when the moon shines, the land does too.
The farm develops around a group of old houses dating back to the beginning to the 1800’s divided into a work area that includes a “palmento” or place to crush the grapes to obtain the must, and an oil press used only by the farm, and in a residential area that goes down to the pool, the loggia and courtyard. 300 meters from the farm is the Lupica vineyard which hosts another small grouping of stone houses: THE ARTISTS’ COTTAGE
Tenuta La Favola covers a surface area of 15 hectares, 7 of which are planted in vines and 5 in olive trees. The grapes are the indigenous variety Nero d’Avola, Frappato and Moscato. The only international vine is Syrah which, in this area, thanks to the specific pedoclimatic conditions and the nature of the soil, acquires very typical and recognizable characteristics of the terroir. The olives are the Moresca Verdese variety.
COMPLETELY NATURAL PROCESSES
Thanks to a continuous collaboration with international companies that work in organic farming, the farm carries out a series of experiments that over time have allowed us to reduce human and machine intervention in the vineyards to the bare minimum:
- Soil humidity and fertility: even if we are in a hot dry zone (in this area it often doesn’t rain from March to October), a dedicated system of weeding that allows for a particular technique protects the soil from loss of humidity and favors the development of areas of ecological balance that cause a natural action of contrast against pathogens of the vines. Therefore: we irrigate only in exceptional cases and plant protection treatments are reduced in the vineyards;
- Biodiversity: the old countryside of south east Sicily was dotted with stone walls and fruit trees. It was a spectacular sight to see the prunes, figs, apricots, pears, almonds, olives, pomegranates, persimmon, mulberries and carobs breaking up the monotonous rhythm of the vineyards, their branches full of fruit hanging over the vines. A joy to see and a wealth for the table, but most of all it was a natural way to enrich the biodiversity and guarantee the development and diversification of the flora and fauna that found the correct balance of pathogens and their antagonists in the vineyards. We have kept this scenario by planting fruit trees of old and local varieties among the vines, and we have reconstructed all the old stone walls. And not only this, we have also built other walls near the houses and between the stones planted thyme, oregano, marjoram, coriander, ginger, fennel….all the herbs and flavors of our cuisine.
- Fertilization: Spraying of the fields with by-products of the processing of the grapes and olives
- Harvest: how else but by hand?
The winery – Vinification Process
The grapes are harvested by hand using a careful selection of the clusters, they are then brought to the winery in plastic bins and immediately de-stemmed and crushed and put into stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature. The fermentation is spontaneous, in fact, a few days before harvest we take care to harvest a small quantity of grapes that are naturally fermented and used as a starter. We do at least 2 pump-overs a day and, depending on the conditions, two or three rack and returns. The red fermentation length is evaluated tank by tank according to the type of product we want to obtain and can vary from 8 to 12 days. The fermenting tanks hold about 80 hectoliters and we try to maintain a constant temperature of around 28°C. To press the skins we use a pneumatic press.
ORGANIC CERTIFICATION
Organic Certification: 1997. Certified by ECOGRUPPO ITALIA – Certification entity authorized by MiPAAFIT BIO 008, Certifier n.D559
Open from March to July and from September to November. Closed on Christmas, Easter and in August.
