RED WINE 
ROSÈ WINE 
WHITE WINE 
ORANGE WINE 
SWEET WINE 
SPARKLING WINE 
CHAMPAGNE 
SPARKLING 
SPARKLING 
SPARKLING 
.jpg)
LA STOPPA.jpg)
.jpg)
DOMAINE BALLORIN
Producer
Frank Cornelissen
Italy, Sicily
Castiglione di Sicilia, Catania
Castiglione di Sicilia, Catania
60000 bottles in the cellar
Specialities: Red wine
Frank Cornelissen founded the winery in 2001, when Etna as a wine region was not so in vogue. The vineyards are all located in the northern valley of the active volcano Etna in eastern Sicily.
The cultivated area is significant: about 24 hectares, including 13 ha of old vines in the classic alberello (also called Gobelet) training system, 9 ha of old vines transformed into modern rows of varying widths, and about 2 ha of olive groves. There are also numerous fruit trees, and fields devoted to vegetables and wild vegetation. Although Etna has a tradition of high-density vine planting, efforts are being made to reduce monoculture and interplant various local fruit varieties and raise bees to recapture a complex ecosystem. New vineyards are planted without grafting, using a selection of original "free-foot" vines.
Vineyard Management
The training system used is the sapling system. Buckwheat is used to rebalance soils poor in organic matter without resorting to industrial compost and plays a particularly important role when preparing the soil for a new vineyard planting.
Tillage is avoided as much as possible, although this depends on the year and the amount of rain received during the winter. The main goal is to avoid any treatment in and around the vineyard, orchard, "which we managed to do even in difficult vintages like 2004 and 2005. Unfortunately, there will always be vintages when treatments with copper sulfate and sulfur will be necessary to prevent diseases from attacking plants to the point of death as in 2013 and 2015". Frank Cornelissen
