Tag: winery

  • Sicilian Wines Only in Sicily, Please

    Cin cin! Look at it. Smell it. Taste it. Enjoy it! Here’s a glimpse at a recent wine tasting I did in Menfi at Mandrarossa Winery. I enjoyed these wines immensely. Sicily is a major grape growing region with many different grape varieties you’ve probably never heard of. These presented here are five grapes for…

  • Day 4 of 16 Days of Sicily | Wines, Vines, and Volcanoes

    Sicily is teeming with grapes (and at least three active volcanoes), so I implore you, open your mind and heart to wines you haven’t heard of, and you will be so happy that you did. Nero d’Avola, Frappato, Perricone, Nerello Cappuccio, Nerello Mascalese (and these are just the reds!), (now for some white) Catarratto, Carricante,…

  • Day 2 Of Stunning Sicily Looks Like This

    I’m looking forward to spending Day 2 of our upcoming Stunning Sicily tour with Etna Wine School! Benjamin North Spencer, the author of this must-have volume for wine lovers, will host us for a wine making lesson, tour, and tasting at one of these outstanding wineries on Etna. We’ll enjoy a rustic lunch paired with…

  • The Abundance Of Mount Etna In Sicily

    When you walk among the vines at a vineyard like Benanti Viticoltori with our friends at Etna Wine School on the slopes of Mount Etna, you see for yourself what those volcanic soils I mentioned yesterday produce. In this case, outstanding grapes for wine-making. But not only! The Etna region is known for its pistachios,…

  • Etna Wines Plus Excellent Company Equals A Memorable Evening

    It’s hard to capture the sense of enthusiasm and interest that flowed through us all last evening during our Etna Wine Box with Guided Synchronous Online Tasting and Discussion. This photo only gives a glimpse into the more than two hours spent on a virtual visit to Europe’s largest, most active volcano with author Benjamin…

  • A Palmento On Etna (Where The Magic Happened)

    A palmento is a building and the antique mechanism inside of it where wine grapes were made into juice (mosto) that eventually became wine. This outstanding palmento photographed at Benanti vineyard offers visitors an opportunity to understand the wine-making process from ancient times and how that translates to today’s stainless steal, squeaky-clean laboratories and cantinas.…

  • Wine Is Another Window Into Sicily

    Wine offers another window into Sicily. The soil, landscape, climate, flora, and fauna of a region all contribute to the taste, smell, and wonder of the island’s now renowned wines. To be continued…

  • Sunset At A Winery In Sicily

    Savor a sunset tour with an enologist at one of Etna’s most revered vineyards during our October Stunning Sicily tour. Your time with the author of the new book, The Etna Report, will go deep into the viniculture of the volcanic wine region and the wine-making process. You’ll learn all about what makes Etna Bianco…

  • From Cannoli to Couscous to Catarratto In Sicily | Stirring Sicily, Day 3

    Live from Sicily! Day 3 of Experience Sicily Stirring Sicily tour..A new meaning to the term “full day.” As in, a day filled with out-of-this-world cannoli, a busiate pasta and couscous cooking class, super cool winery visit at Cantina Quattrocieli … And so much food that we are all full! But wow, so satisfying!