About fifteen years ago, I returned to live in Sicily. I wondered whether the block of Pozzo di Mazza could have been restructured and made fit to live in.
This idea was later shelved, but the continuing deterioration of this building that I have always loved a lot has not been attended to.
Hence the idea of turning the farm into a place suitable for living, without realizing the adventure in which I was entering.
I did not want to change the name that we find even in the very old signs. Surely the farm has two natural sources of water, two ancient wells still with their stone troughs. Farmers used to come to these wells to stock up on water and water the animals.
The oldest group of houses, including the home on the upper floor, was intended for processing grapes as evidenced by the prefectly preserved ancient millstone.
A good part of the land around it, before it was drilled for the extraction of water, and specialized in the production of citrus fruit and vegetables, were in fact planted with vines in the typical shape for low Arborello.
The grapes meant for crushing were brought in through the window halfway up the stairs and placed outside where it was crushed with the feet and the juice was allowed to trickle down to the stone trough below.
The extracted wine, we talk about a product whose alcohol content was approximately 18°, was placed in wooden barrels and placed in the adjacent cellar about two meters below to keep it at a cooler temperature.
