“Every wine owes its being to the hands and care of those who produce it”.

And if it were the many “consumers” who suddenly become “winemakers for a day” who were to join hands, the generosity of the land and the winemaker’s expertise would be enriched with some special ingredients, such as passion, enthusiasm, respect and sharing, around a product that – more than anything else – evokes the history of a region and encapsulates its identity. That of Vittoria, in this case. Maggio Vini celebrated the Harvest Festival in the heart of the homeland of Sicily’s only DOCG, Cerasuolo, paying tribute to the irresistible enthusiasm and great hardships that are an intrinsic part of gathering the Nero d’Avola and Frappato grapes, which will go to make those great wines that carry the name of this area of production excellence to the world. Now that this year’s intensive grape harvest is almost over, and we will soon know what sort of a year it was, a year undoubtedly influenced by rather unusual weather patterns that so far bode well, Massimo Maggio would like to throw open this experience to the public and invite them to take this journey in reverse – from the bottle to the vineyard – to learn where and how the vines grow, to discover their characteristics and how they are revealed in the wine, when is the best time to pick the grapes, what happens when they get to the winery and begin the long process of vinification. Entrepreneurs, professionals, journalists, representatives of industry associations and local institutions, but mainly families and children, the young, and highly efficient, enthusiastic grape pickers have all accepted the invitation to get their shoes dirty on the red clay in which the Cerasuolo grows, losing themselves in play (but not too much) between the rows of the beautiful Pettineo vineyard, a great little oasis, the embodiment of local biodiversity, where Massimo Maggio also grows Grillo, Pinot Nero and Pinot Grigio using organic methods. The Grape Harvest Festival marks the end of this year’s grape picking: the work now shifts to the winery, with great expectations for a vintage that promises some wonderful surprises.