I had the very good fortune to take a trip to Sicily recently and couldn’t resist visiting a couple of vineyards to find out a little bit more about Sicilian winemaking which has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years. It is often thought that the inhospitable volcanic terrain of Mount Etna (its lower slopes is where the wine making is at, but still at ‘high altitude’ relatively speaking) would not be a natural place to grow vines that make great wine. Wrong! The volcanic soil contributes enormously to the quality and taste of the wine. Inhospitable it may appear but the vines work hard (a good thing) and the combination of Sicilian heat with the cooler night time temperatures make for great wine making conditions.
The first winery I (I should say we) visited was Gambino Vini, located on the Eastern slopes of Mount Etna (following a slightly hair raising journey to get there!). It’s a truly commercial outfit (in a good way) that is set up to deliver highly professional but very personal wine (and food) tastings. The vineyard is terraced, not surprising given its location, and is as carefully manicured as it could be. The tasting room is large and comfortable and each group of visitors gets their own table and enjoys their own private tasting with the help of one of the in house sommeliers. The tasting proceeded at a leisurely pace and the accompanying food was delicious.
We tasted the following wines:
Feu d’O, Sicilia bianco 2015. a blend of Grillo and Carricante. It was light and fresh and lemony. The second wine was the 2016 Tifeo, an Etna bianco DOC, a blend of Carricante and Catarratto grapes, grown on volcanic soil at 800 metres above sea level. The result, a more floral aroma with a riper fruitiness to it. Very nice indeed! Wine no 3 was the 2016 Tifeo Rosato DOC, a rose wine as its name would suggest. Again, the vines are grown at 800 metres above sea level, the grape used is nerello mascalese which is macerated only very briefly to give the wine a hint of colour. I really enjoyed this even though it is not perhaps what one would typically expect to find in Sicily. There were definite aromas of rose petals and Turkish delight and a a fresh fruitiness on the palate. Perfect for sipping, well chilled, by the pool on a warm Sicilian evening! We then moved onto the reds, starting with a 2015 Duvanera, a Sicilian rosso IGT, the grape, Nero d’avola. The result, a deep red wine, aromatic and rich in dark fruit such as purple plum, blackberries and slightly chocolatey. The penultimate wine, and I must say our favourite, was the 2015 Alicant, another Sicilian rosso IGT, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. It was rich in dark ripe fruit and a deep ruby red colour. It was redolent of a good Bordeaux. Finally, we tasted the 2014 Tifeo Etna rosso, a DOC wine produced from nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio grapes grown on volcanic soil at an altitude of 800 metres, like the other Etna DOC’s produced by Gambino. A ruby red colour, fragrant and a little bit of spice on the palate with deep red fruit and blackberries. Oh, and the cannoli were divine!
Not only was our host, Manuela, truly knowledgeable and delightful, we were paid a visit by Francesco, one of the owners, who was very charming indeed and clearly more than passionate about his craft. What a fabulous way to pass a couple of hours! And we couldn’t resist shipping a couple of boxes home so that we can continue to enjoy our Sicilian adventure …
