| If you are looking for fine Italian wine and | | | | |
| food, consider the Sicily region of southern | | | | Widely grown international red grape |
| Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope | | | | varieties include Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, |
| that you'll have fun on this fact-filled wine | | | | and Merlot. The best-known strictly Italian |
| education tour. | | | | red varieties are Nero d'Avola, Frappato, and |
| | | | Nerello Mascalese. |
| Sicily is the football kicked by the Italian | | | | |
| boot. It is an island in the Mediterranean | | | | Before reviewing the Sicilian wine and cheese |
| Sea located off the southwest tip of Italy. | | | | that we were lucky enough to purchase at a |
| Sicily was first inhabited about ten thousand | | | | local wine store and a local Italian food |
| years ago. Agriculture and animal raising | | | | store, here are a few suggestions of what to |
| date back well over four thousand years. Its | | | | eat with indigenous wines when touring this |
| rulers have included the Greeks, Romans, | | | | beautiful region. |
| Arabs, Normans, Germans, and Spaniards, among | | | | |
| others. This mountainous region is prone to | | | | Start with Insalata di Finocchi, Arance |
| volcanoes and earthquakes; in 1908 an | | | | Sanguigne de Olive; Fennel, Blood Orange, and |
| earthquake and subsequent tidal wave killed | | | | Olive Salad. |
| eighty thousand people in the coastal city of | | | | |
| Messina. Sicily's population is about five | | | | As a second course try Pollo con Prosciutto e |
| million, with an additional ten million | | | | Melanzane Fritte; Braised Chicken with |
| people of Sicilian descent around the world. | | | | Proscuitto and Fried Eggplants. |
| | | | |
| Agricultural products include wheat, barley, | | | | For dessert indulge yourself with Cassata; |
| corn, olives, citrus fruit, almonds, and, of | | | | Candied Fruit and Chocolate on Sponge Cake. |
| course, grapes. Tomatoes, eggplants, and | | | | |
| peppers are prominent in local cuisine. | | | | OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have |
| Sicily is Italy's second region for organic | | | | communicated with well over a thousand |
| food. Many think that the Arabs introduced | | | | Italian wine producers and merchants to help |
| pasta to Sicily, which subsequently | | | | prepare these articles, our policy is clear. |
| introduced it to the rest of Italy. Cattle, | | | | All wines that we taste and review are |
| mules, donkeys, and sheep are raised. Sicily | | | | purchased at the full retail price. |
| claims to have invented meatballs, The seas | | | | |
| surrounding Sicily are bountiful, favorites | | | | Wine Reviewed |
| include sardines, tuna, and swordfish. Sicily | | | | |
| is famous for desserts, including frozen | | | | Tasca d'Almerita 'Regaleali' Blanco 2005 IGT |
| treats made with snow from Mount Etna. | | | | Sicilia 12.5% alcohol about $13 |
| | | | |
| Sicilian heavy industry includes | | | | We'll start by quoting the marketing |
| petro-chemicals, chemicals, mining, and | | | | materials. "Made with the local grapes |
| electronics. Tourism is a major factor in the | | | | Inzolia, Greciano, and Catarratto, this wine |
| Sicilian economy. Did you know that the Valle | | | | is matured only in stainless steel and is not |
| dei Templi in Agrigento on the Mediterranean | | | | put through acid-softening malolactic |
| Sea has some of the finest Greek ruins on | | | | fermentation. The producer chooses this |
| earth? | | | | approach to retain the bright fruitiness and |
| | | | racy crispness of the wine. Enjoy with |
| Palermo, arguably the world's most conquered | | | | steamed mussels, chicken or summer salads." |
| city, is Sicily's capital with a population | | | | And now for my thoughts on the wine. |
| of a little under seven hundred thousand. It | | | | |
| is a definite tourist destination, with its | | | | I first tasted this wine with broiled chicken |
| numerous historical churches, museums, | | | | burgers accompanied by a hot pepper relish, |
| theaters, and Italy's largest botanical | | | | and red peppers. The wine was light, perhaps |
| garden. Another urban tourist destination is | | | | a bit intimidated by the relish. It was |
| Syracuse, dating back to Ancient Greece. The | | | | delicate, but not weak. When I finished my |
| Greek writer Cicero described it as "The | | | | glass with the red peppers, the wine was |
| greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of | | | | quite fruity and sweet. |
| them all." Both earthquakes and World War II | | | | |
| caused heavy damage, but many of the most | | | | I next tried this wine with fillet of sole |
| interesting sites have been reconstructed. | | | | poached in an onion sauce, accompanied by |
| | | | brown rice and okra in a tomato sauce. The |
| Sicily devotes about a third of a million | | | | wine tasted light and citrusy in the presence |
| acres to grapevines, it ranks first among the | | | | of the fish, and was more powerful when |
| 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine | | | | facing the rice and the okra. I finished that |
| production is about 213 million gallons, also | | | | meal with fresh pomegranate. The wine became |
| giving it first place. If Sicily were an | | | | sweet and acidic, but did not take on new |
| independent country, it would rank seventh in | | | | flavors. |
| the world for wine production. About 54% of | | | | |
| its wine production is red or rosé (only a | | | | Isola is a Sicilian fresh cheese made from |
| bit of rosé), leaving 46% for white. The | | | | sheep's milk. The Isola cheese was powerful, |
| region produces 19 DOC wines. DOC stands for | | | | strong smelling and strong tasting, |
| Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which | | | | especially when you crunched into a |
| may be translated as Denomination of | | | | peppercorn. Unfortunately, the cheese |
| Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality | | | | overpowered this relatively light wine. In |
| wine. Only a little more than 2% of Sicilian | | | | contrast, when paired with an Asiago cheese |
| wine carries the DOC designation. Sicily is | | | | from northern Italy, the wine became quite |
| home to over three dozen major and secondary | | | | full bodied and fruity. Sometimes rules such |
| grape varieties, with more white than red | | | | as local wines with local cheeses are meant |
| varieties. | | | | to be broken. I had a bit of wine left over |
| | | | and finished the bottle with out-of-season |
| Widely grown international white grape | | | | strawberries. They brought out the wine's |
| varieties include Malvasia and to a lesser | | | | complexity and softness. |
| extent, Chardonnay. The best-known strictly | | | | |
| Italian white varieties are Catarratto, | | | | Final verdict, in spite of its low official |
| Grecanico, Inzolia, and Grillo. The first | | | | rating, I found the wine pretty good. I would |
| three of these varieties are blended in the | | | | buy it again, but avoid pairing it with |
| wine reviewed below. | | | | strong-tasting food. |