DIETRO LE CASE

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TERROIR

HAND MADE

TRADITION

DIETRO LE CASE

INZOLIA MENFI DOC

The old vines of Inzolia planted by my father 60 years ago "behind the houses" of Tenuta Belicello are both my heritage and my future.

Those native clones, having wonderfully adapted to the micro-climatic conditions of the Belìce Valley, perfectly embody the remarkable wineproducing culture of Menfi’s terroir.

The soil is calcareous, rich of limestones, and it greatly influences the grapes' aromatic profile, providing the wine an intense yet delicate minerality that leads to the development of a remarkable complexity and exquisite finesse.

THE SHORT STORY

Grape variety: Inzolia grown in tenuta Belicello, Vigne Dietro le Case
Soil: clay soil with calcareous components, very rich in limestones and sea minerals
Vineyard: planted in 1960s, head-trained bush vines
Winemaking: pre-fermentative maceration on the skins for 2 days
Alcoholic fermentation: from a pied-de-cuve of wild yeast
Malolactic fermentation: spontaneous
Refining: 4 months on fine lees in clay amphoras
Average production: 3.000 bottles/year

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VINEYARD DIETRO LE CASE

Dietro le Case (Behind the Houses) is a small beautiful vineyard of Inzolia planted by my father Pietro in the 1960s through massal selection of the older clones that were introduced in the property in early 1920s by my grandfather Lilly, when he was given the Tenuta Belicello Estate by his father, as a gift for his wedding.

After 100 years, this vineyard is one of the oldest in Sicily where original native clones of Inzolia are still cultivated, a true living monument to traditional viticulture, and a treasure trove of biodiversity.

Several phenotypes of Inzolia coexist in this vineyard: different in size, color, aromas, and ripening time, the clusters of each phenotype have their own peculiar identity, and create a special mix of flavors that make this wine very unique and expressive.

In 2020 I heard of a vineyard dating back to the mid-70s destined to be uprooted after a few months, where a rare biotype called Inzolia Cappuccia was grown.

Since that vineyard would have been destroyed, and the biotype would probably disappear, I asked the proprietor to sample about 150 vines that I would bring to Belicello and replant in Dietro le Case vineyard. To the surprise of many, including myself, most of these plants survived, and are slowly adapting to the new location.

A small success, and a great joy. Now there are at least 5 phenotypes in Dietro le Case vineyard, which I am slowly bringing back to the traditional type of farming, based more on low bush training than on vertical trellis.

Planted less than 1 mile from the ocean, the vines absorb the sea brine from the air and soil. It's salinity, more than just minerality, that gives the berries their special taste.
The soil behind the houses is very special: it is mostly clayey, with big limestones deriving from ancient volcanic activity; it is fresh and light, and very rich in sea minerals. The long roots of old vines can deeply penetrate that light soil, looking for water in the deeper layers.

The vineyard's extraordinary adaptation to Tenuta Belicello and to its unique marine terroir profoundly influences the wine's personality: the salty air brought by the sea breeze and the large temperature gap between day and night deeply mark the vines' metabolism, improve their resistance to fungal infections and determine their extraordinary expressiveness.

WINEMAKING

We usually harvest the Inzolia in Dietro le Case vineyard during the first half of September, when the grapes are fully ripe. The traditional pruning system, which we call "a pezzo e spalla", and the age of the vines, allow slow constant ripening cycles and a great aromatic concentration.

The grapes are hand picked and immediately brought to the winery, where they are destemmed and undergo a 48-hour maceration with the skins to extract their primary aromas. After soft pressing, the must decants naturally at a cold temperature and ferments with wild yeast in stainless steel tanks at about 18 °C.

After both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, the wine refines on its fine lees for about 4 months in steel tanks, with frequent batonnages.
Cold stabilization is performed at cold temperatures without any chemical fining additives.
Dietro le Case is gently filtered through compostable cellulose layers immediately before the bottling.

TASTING NOTES

Inzolia is known for a low acidity, and for a rather modest sugar content: two qualities that require great ability and winegrowing experience in order to determine the right moment for the harvest.
Terroir is the key to high quality Inzolia: phenolic ripeness generally occurs lately on the hills, when the grapes’ natural acidity is below an acceptable degree. On the contrary, at lower altitudes and closer to the ocean, the sea brine is able to compensate the soft quality of the Inzolia juice, giving the wines a savory character and a fresh saline finish enhanced by an intense bouquet of broom, chamomile flowers and notes of thyme and sage.

Dietro le Case is a perfect wine for aperitif and matches very well all fish dishes: shells and crustaceans don't like acidic wines that would cover their delicate flavors, and are enlightened by a combination that will exalt their saline yet sweet taste.
I love to drink it with clams, grilled scallops and mussels, but my favorite pick is definitely prawns and langostines, ideal companions for a smooth, savory and slightly aromatic wine.

SERVING TEMPERATURE: 50 - 54 °F
A cool temperature, around 50 degrees, will accentuate the wine's iodized and saline notes and will exalt the pleasant expression of a wine that is able to age for a few years, developing complex aromas of peanuts, toasted almonds and slightly smoked sensations on the finish.

EASY MENFI

TERROIR

HAND MADE

TRADITION

DIETRO LE CASE

THE SHORT STORY

VINEYARD DIETRO LE CASE

WINEMAKING

TASTING NOTES

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