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The "Vasche": the rupestrian basins for grape-crushing

These stone basins for the crushing of grapes are an extraordinary peculiarity of our territory, witnessing a recent past in which the cultivation of the vine was the main economic activity in the area.
In ancient times it was common to create outdoor pressing tanks near the vineyards. This tradition originated during the Greek colonisation of southern Italy.

The rupestrian basins - or palmenti - are basins for pressing grapes, hand-carved into the stones emerging from the land. All the palmenti have a system of separate tanks, and drains for must collection; a screw press was also installed on some to facilitate the work.
In the 1748 land registry of Pietranico we read that almost every family owned a vineyard. Most of these were located in the area called "Caprera", where our farm lies today.
The origin of the basins is uncertain, because dating back a carved stone is extremely difficult. We know for sure that the year "1687" is imprinted on a tank.
Usually, though, the origin of such tanks is placed in much more remote times, even back to the stone age.

Archeology scholars who have been researching Pietranico's Vasche - among whom we should mention Edoardo Micati and Roberto Tonelli, who published on the subject - do not rule out the possibility that the basins date back to that period in the Middle Ages when farming resurged.
In fact, references to local viticulture and the qualitative vocation of the grapes produced here can be found in medieval monastic chronicles, especially those of the nearby Abbey of San Clemente a Casauria.
The grapes harvested in Pietranico were pressed in the stone basins. The must so obtained was then taken to neighbouring towns, to be processed into wine in local cellars or sent by rail to other parts of Italy.

For both its size and state of conservation, that of Pietranico is the main basins' site of its kind in Abruzzo and one of the most important in Italy. The "Vasche" belong to Italy's archaeological heritage, and are undoubtedly worth a visit with the help of local guides that will thoroughly explain their history.