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Of nectar and wine

We are glad to inform our guests, but also the many islanders who read us, that our island offers wine, olive oil and biological jams.

No, this is not an advertising insertion or we want to review a label, but we want to share with you the success of a generation of farmers and islanders growers, who have made the land a business of cultivating without ever ?cutting the roots?, deeply rooted in the rural culture that has always dominated and characterized the identity of Ischia.

But success is not of the Colella family or farm La Pergola, which boasts the first label bio of Ischia, but of the area that can begin to hope in the process of these social practices. Basically do not need a label to take care of their land, just have common sense and be inspired by nature, by its time and its rhythms.
The attention to local products and typical production is a qualifying factor of the experience lived by tourists on our island and should be a source of pride and inspiration for the islanders who need to recover their relationship with the earth and heal the rift more or less obvious that the development of tourism over the last decades and the urban development of the island, have caused between the island and islander.
It is for this reason that the work of Giosu? Colella in his company for producing wine, olive oil and biological jams, or the passion of his brother Salvatore for beekeeping are the best practices that we of Ischianews would like to introduce you to sustain and reinforce the image and describe the content of our island.
The first organic wine is born in Cimmentorosso, the hill overlooking the Bay of Citara in Forio, a vineyard of 3-hectare planted on a slightly sloping and terraced land facing south west. Rising 150 meters above sea level the ?Bianco di Colella? retains a pleasantly salty flavor, dry and long. The aromas are typical of the original grapes with hints of green apple and aromatic spices. The colors are pale yellow with greenish highlights... maybe the privilege granted to these grapes characterized by the green ray of the Forian sunset! The method of cultivation is clearly allowed by the organic protocol, with a limited use of fungicide and the use of pyrethrum to combat pests or the use of traps to catch "unwelcome" insects. On the other hand are much like the bees, that inside the Colella Estate, found a hospitable environment.
But the hives that I have visited with particular enthusiasm are those of Salvatore, housed in the historical center of Forio, in a typical forian house, made of courtyards, white lime, hearth, scale gooseneck, lapilli, wash stone, millstones, large and small, ancient plants, pets and shrines. Under the lemon trees are the colorful houses of the bees. Salvatore defines social animals and man has nothing to fear. He, who knows their habits, approaches without any protection without the use of smoke because would stress bees making them feel threatened. Salvatore raises bees since I was 10 years, since with his teacher, he went to visit the bee farm to a farm. He was fascinated, and when his mother Sisina found a swarm and the Queen Bee in the garden of a neighbor, began breeding.
The bees have accompanied him during adolescence and "sustained", thanks to the precious nectar that would obtain when, with great sacrifice he began his medical studies to become a pediatrician.... a great pediatrician! Clearly, the Salvatore?s bees live without stress because they have not stress. Salvatore considers the time of nature and they in return are meek and docile. They work in the gardens of the Cierco, guided by the sun, to supply the hive with nectar, honeydew, pollen, propolis and water. Silently, for years, monitor the quality of air and water of this district. It is really reassuring to learn that over the years have never happened phenomenon of sudden deaths, if not because of some invasions of unwanted animals such as moths or ants. Our air and water are of good quality and the bees work tirelessly to help to preserve and enhance our vegetation through pollination.
Grew up with a deep respect for the land, which devote themselves with passion and sacrifice, following the teachings of their parents, Salvatore and Giosu? are valuable because they inherited a deep and authentic knowledge of our land and its infinite potential. They reflect a sustainable balance between man and nature and an example for us, islanders, that we still struggle to understand how it is satisfying to take care of creation that is hosting us!