WINE IN THE BLOOD
Angelo’s knowledge of each individual block, and the characteristics of the grapes produced on them, is fundamental to his hands-on wine making approach.
Drawing on skills and knowledge passed down through his family from generation to generation, he works with small, select parcels of fruit, utilising wild yeast, open fermenters, basket pressing and long barrel aging to produce unmistakable character and depth.
WHERE IT HAPPENS
For the love of the art.
The beautiful De Fazio Vineyard, resplendent in the lead-up to vintage.
Our premium fruit ripening on the vine.
When Vintage arrives we carefully select the fruit and pick by hand.
The grapes wait patiently to be crushed.
The fully laden grape bins are emptied into the crusher.
The crusher goes to work, separating the grapes from their stems.
The crushed De Fazio Vineyard grapes are transferred into small open fermenters.
With the traditions of Southern Italy still foremost in his mind, Zitta winemaker Angelo De Fazio gently hand plunges selected ferments to tease out the most delicate nuances.
The wine is pumped over the open fermenters to help extract flavours and colours from the grape skins.
The flavour-laden juice is drained from the fermenter…
…and the remaining fermented berries are removed by hand, ready for basket pressing. (Gumboots essential!)
The basket press is filled.
The basket press kicks into action.
Wine extracted from the press is collected and pumped into tanks.
The wine waits in the tanks to be transferred into barrels.
The barrels are carefully filled.
Now filled, the barrels are put into storage so the wine can mature.
Winemaker Angelo De Fazio checks the wine’s progress.
Following barrel maturation, the wine is transferred into a tanker and taken to the bottling plant.
At last our prized wine is bottled – always an exciting moment!
Patience, patience.
The wine must now age in the bottle prior to release to ensure maximum depth and complexity.
