Currently throughout Sicily grape growers are measuring the sugar, acid, and tannin levels of their grapes in preparation for the annual vendemmia, or grape harvest. Up to now, wine-making has been about caring for the vines, pruning the growth, and ensuring that the fruit has received enough air, sunlight, and water for an abundant and healthy crop. When the chemistry is right, better wineries carefully pick their grapes by hand in a race against ripening. In the old days, growers used these typical baskets pictured made from river reeds and weeping willow tree branches to carry the harvest from the fields to the palmento, where makers would take the next steps in the wine-making process.

To be continued…