Tasca

For two hundred years one great family has tended this land lovingly and expertly, constantly seeking ways to render our task more pleasurable. Our love for these extraordinary Sicilian places has led us to labour to ensure that they are bountiful, and to express and exalt this culture and territory.

Eight generations of our family are linked to two extraordinary places which are part and parcel of Sicily's history: the Regaleali estate which now stretches over 500 hectares at the very centre of Sicily; and Villa Tasca (formerly Villa Camastra) in Palermo, heart and soul of the Sicilian capital's social and cultural life in the late 19th century. Tasca counts have always spearheaded a can-do culture, being the first to introduce any innovations in farming technology and cultivation techniques.

From the late 19th century through the early years of the 20th, Regaleali upgraded and specialised, succeeding in making itself stand out from the under-developed region around to become a model agricultural business. From the mid-20th century onwards, the family firm grew and developed, inventing, producing and distributing the wealth of this land and spreading its values: solidity, consistency and simple hard work.

Once established as a wine-growing and producing concern, the long history of Regaleali's Rosso del Conte, Nero d'Avola reserve and chestnut-aged Perricone began. And the company's vocation for exalting Sicily's culture and land became clear. The immense success of Regaleali Bianco – Sicily's first true expression of a terroir-linked wine – crowned our achievements.

Tasca d'Almerita now has almost six hundred hectares planted with vines, and exports its produce to four continents. It lavishes care on guests in two of Sicily's most stunning resorts, and produces the very best on each of its five estates. Seventy people in Sicily work with another 200 seasonal workers in the estates, with the haste-free dedication of long-term commitment. Because respect for the land you cultivate involves giving it time to breath, at its own calm rate; and because offering hospitality in exceptional places means observing the pace of man and land.

Over the past decade we have bought the Capofaro estate on the Aeolian island of Salina, blending hospitality with Malvasia wine production; we have begun production on Mount Etna on our Tascante estate; and we have expanded production in joint ventures – with the Whitaker Foundation on Mozia, and at Monreale with Sallier de la Tour. We have brought a new lease of life to production in Sicily, not always controlling the process from start to finish but working together with other concerns; ours is a contemporary story, with an eye to the future.

Because real, lasting, success is produced over time by the dedication of those involved.
Tasca d'Almerita brings time to life.

Why must humans exist in the world? 

It was this question, posed by the philosopher Hans Jonas some time ago, that stimulated my reflection on the nature and purpose of human action. Life appeared on Earth 4.4 billion years ago, but our species, Homo sapiens, appeared only 200,000 years ago. In spite of this, man has already caused the extinction of living organisms on the planet, has greatly reduced the number of fish in the oceans, and has disrupted important food chains.

That is why I think we cannot wait any longer: we have to change direction towards a new ethic that does not focus exclusively on man, but is capable of contemplating the long-term effects of our actions.

A new ethic based on a fundamental principle: the consequences of our actions must be compatible with the survival of human life on earth. Since the socio-environmental crisis we are going through causes nothing but a progressive degradation of human life – as COVID-19 has taught us – we need to rethink ecologism as a form of humanism: there is no real contrast between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism, because the defence of human interests coincides with the defence of nature and vice versa. Together with all other sentient beings, we human beings are part of the same commonhome, the Earth: therefore we cannot think of ruining one part without ruining the whole. In light of all this, in my opinion, sustainability should be understood today as the ethics of responsibility, the aim of which is to preserve the integrity – not only moral but also physical – of man and the world in which he lives.

How to proceed? By measuring, evaluating and trying to predict the influence that our actions can have on the fate of humanity and the planet.

It is 11 years now since Tasca d’Almerita first adhered to the SOStain and VIVA programmes with the firm conviction that we were embarking on a journey to increase awareness, because we wanted to know the precise effect of every action we take in the vineyard, in the winery, and in general throughout the organisation. In this sense, SOStain offers us the possibility of measuring our level of sustainability using rigorous scientific indicators and a multidimensional approach. This means that all decisions are made on the basis of data that help us to avoid waste and preserve the heritage we have been entrusted with. We have achieved a great deal of which I am very proud and which you can read about in this eleventh report.

Constant daily and often demanding work has transformed sustainability within our company into an ethic of responsibility: not just a method of running the company, but a lifestyle inspired by values and principles that revolve around the concept of the common good.

I have not yet found a complete answer to the initial question. I can say, however, that this way of working and living does make employees and everyone around the company feel better. Everything tastes better, there is a perception of widespread well-being and it is all simply much more beautiful.

Alberto Tasca