A territory fraught with tourists and cultural attractions, but also wine and food. From Marsala, which was built on the ancient Punic city of Lilibeo, with the breathtaking wildlife reserve of the Stagnone Islands, the largest lagoon in Sicily made of sand movements generated by underwater currents, to Alcamo that, together with Marsala, is the most important wine area of Sicily, and also one of the most famous cities because of its many tourist attractions, from the sea to the mountains. Without forgetting Erice, with its Norman castle, ancient walls that surround its narrow streets and old churches. The climate of this territory is dry for most of the year, it is between 200 and 700 metres high and the difference between the lowest and the highest temperature in a 24 hours period is very high, giving wine unique peculiarities.

Finally the cultural and artistic heritage of Segesta, one of the most important and suggestive archaeological centres of Sicily, with its large Doric temple and a theatre that dates back to the fourth century b.C. Here, but also in the nearby provinces of Palermo and Agrigento, the Terre di Giafar vineyards are located, where its president preferred quality to quantity. “This year we selected our members”, confessed the president, “we decided to keep only those who believe in the final project, i.e. to promote the cooperative spirit, which doesn’t mean wine producers that private companies reject. “This is why we decided to exclude 28 “false-members”, who brought only a few quintals of grapes just to stay on a winning cart”. Numbers say everything: for year 2008 the cellar gave producers 20 Euros a quintal without asking for bank funds, therefore distributing amongst its members the money earned by the structure. President Spezia, who is both an agronomist and regional officer at the Food Resources Department, is perfectly aware of the fact that one of the main reasons why cooperatives do not have a real market is that everybody thinks that these types of structures are just places where wages are given, for example presidents with two wages, attendance fees for councillors, oenologists with exaggerated budgets, a large number of accountants, marketing and administrative directors”. “If you also consider that European regulations allow members to spread their part of money into several private and social structures”, continued President Spezia, “you then realize that the false-member is ‘motivated’ only by the possibility of earning money, without giving value to its future but only to sellers who dictate the so-called purchase cartel of grapes”.

So, apart from Spezia who gives his contribution with two thousand quintals of grapes and his professional skills, the board of directors of the cellar is composed of producers but also technicians who work with dedication but without being paid. More in detail, there is vice-president Paolo Giacomelli, another producer who provides 2,500 quintals, Claudio Scarlata di Paceo, Monia Ruggirello who work as chemists and Moreno Falorni, a commercial partner from Tuscany who deals with the selling of all the 300 thousand bottles produced on the national and international market. “To be honest we bottle mainly for other structures”, explained Spezia, “so out of the 300 thousand bottles produced, only 100 thousand have the Terre di Giafar label”. But this choice allows the company to close the years with profit. Thanks to a modern bottling system, the company can produce 2,500 pieces per hour, so about 14-15 thousand bottles a day. “The line isn’t complete yet, so at the moment we need four workers to bottle”, underlined Spezia, “but we hope to complete it soon so only one person is needed”. But this is not all.

“We are working on new projects with the University of Palermo, the consortium of organic Sikus grapes of Trapani and the Agrichimica laboratory of Marsala”, ended the president, “to bring forward new research projects that guarantee producers an income, thanks not only to wine grapes, but also products that are usually underestimated but could contribute in a positive way to the cellar’s budget”.

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute