The Weekly Word of Vino, Italian Wine & Spirits

In This Issue:

June 7, 2006

•	Author Mary Taylor Simeti to Speak at Vino

•	Wine Opinion: Back to Sicilia

•	Weekend Wine Tastings: Cool New Wines for Summer!

•	Vinoteca Class Schedule

•	Wine of the Week: La Gazzella 2003 Ezio Voyat

Author Mary Taylor Simeti to Speak at Vino

Acclaimed author Mary Taylor Simeti speaks on Sicilia, wine, terroir, and culture at Vino, Thursday, June 15, 5:30 p.m. Five Sicilian wines will be poured at the event No English-language writer is more closely associated with Sicilia and its many wonders and mysteries than Mary Taylor Simeti (pictured right). The celebrated author, food authority, and historian first moved to Sicilia in 1962 to perform volunteer work after graduating from Radcliffe College. Her critically acclaimed On Persephone's island: a Sicilian Journal (Knopf, 1986) chronicled her life there with her Sicilian husband (a professor of agronomy) and their children. Living in 1960s Sicilia often proved harsh and difficult and the young woman from New York faced many cultural challenges posed by the environment where she had chosen to make her home. But her informed, elegantly sparse writing revealed a wondrous world, rich with culinary and life experiences, previously unknown to English speakers (and to many Italians). The myriad titles that followed have made Ms. Simeti a much sought-after speaker and one of world's leading experts on Sicilia and its culinary and cultural heritage. One of our personal favorites, Bitter Almonds, Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood (Morrow, 1994), was co-authored with Maria Grammatico, who makes some of the best traditional painted marzipan we have ever tasted (see Charles' wine opinion below). Please join us on Thursday, June 15, for this unique encounter with Ms. Simeti and a sampling of five Sicilian wines, including Tasca d'Almerita's Rosso del Conte. For more information, please email contact@vinosite.com. N.B.: Although this week's tastings will take place on Friday and Saturday, our summer tasting schedule begins next week. Starting with the Mary Taylor Simeti event, tastings will be held on Thursdays and Fridays (5:30-7:30) until Labor Day.

Weekend Wine Tastings: Cool New Wines for Summer!

Friday, 5:30-7:30 p.m. - Saturday, 4-6 p.m. N.B.: Although this week's tastings will take place on Friday and Saturday, our summer tasting schedule begins next week. Starting with the Mary Taylor Simeti event, tastings will be held on Thursdays and Fridays (5:30-7:30) until Labor Day. Roero Arneis 2005 Vietti New! The winemaker ferments the juice in stainless steel, uses no malolactic fermentation, and lets the wine sit on its lees for three months before bottling. Varietal expression and freshness make this classic Roero Arneis one of our favorites. Cinque Terre Marea 2004 Bisson New! The winemaker claims that you can taste sea urchin in this beautiful blend of Bosco, Vermentino, and Albarola grapes grown on the steep slopes of Cinque Terre in Liguria (the Italian riviera). This hard-to-find white benefits from the excellent ventilation along the coast: its freshness and intense flavors are impressive. A perfect pairing for seafood. La Gazzella 2003 Ezio Voyat Wine of the Week: see tasting notes below Marzemino 2004 Battistotti New! When the young Mozart traveled to Italy for his debut Italian appearance, he was a guest in the home of the Lodron family in what is today the province of Trento. He was so impressed with the Marzemino he drank there that he had Don Giovanni sing "Pour the excellent Marzemino" in the final moments of the opera. With its bright acidity, Marzemino is an excellent food wine and is often served slightly chilled during hot summer months. Moscato d'Asti 2004 Cascina Castle't The Moscato grape is one of the oldest grape varieties known to and vinified by humankind. The ancient world coveted Moscato and generously praised its virtues as a superior wine grape. Its name comes from the fruit's "musky" smell when picked from the vine. Today, Moscato is still grown all over Italy and for more than 100 years, winemakers in Asti have used it to make a slightly sparkling sweet wine known for its ability to pair with fresh fruit. For more info, email us at contact@vinosite.com.

Wine of the Week: La Gazzella 2003 Ezio Voyat

The late Ezio Voyat named this wine after his daughter Marilena Voyat, an educator and track star whom he liked to compare to a gazzella or gazelle. In the 1980s she was a sprinter for the Italian national team. Made from 100% Moscato, this is a crisp white wine with great depth and structure. Shortly before the great winemaker's passing, this wine was named "one of the top 100 white wines of Italy" at the prestigious Salone del Sapore (literally the Flavor Convetion), one of Italy's leading food and wine fairs. We have just received the 2003 vintage and it is drinking wonderfully. Get 10% off this week only at Vino. Send an email to contact@vinosite.com to order (supplies are limited).

Wine Opinion: Back to Sicilia

Tomorrow, I am speaking at a tasting of Sicilian wines for the Wine Media Guild, an association of Wine Writers. The tasting happens to be on Sicilian wine. It seems that recently every time I turn around, there is Sicilia. In fact, Mary Taylor Simeti is coming on June 15 to speak about Sicilian food, wine, and culture. Of course, Mrs. Simeti is the author of Bitter Almonds, the book about Maria Grammatico whom we saw in Erice. The tasting on Wednesday for the Wine Media Guild is entitled "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Sicilian Wine." It's interesting because when we talk about yesterday, we are going back to the Greeks, who colonized Sicilia and were there for 500 years and really taught the Sicilians how to plant and vinify grapes. After a number of other invaders, including such diverse peoples as the Carthaginians, Byzantines, Normans, Americans, and the Mafia, Sicilian wine today can be classified, in my opinion, as a "New World" area. In other words, it can be called the "California of Italy" or the "Australia of Italy." In fact, there are so many Australians making wine in Italy that you would think it was some plot by them to take over the island. The question, however, is what do Sicilians drink? Sicilians consume less wine than any other region of Italy. On my recent trip to Italy, I visited Tasca d'Almerita, better known as Regaleali, one of the oldest privately owned wineries in Sicily. I also visited Sant'Anastasia, a winery about ten years old. It is a Relais Chateau, has a great swimming pool, restaurant, and all the modern amenities. What they both have in common is that when the locals pull up in their automobiles, they go into a garage-like structure and fill up their demijohns with wine from three pumps that look like they belong in a gas station. The labels on the pumps say "bianco, rosato, and rosso." Only roughly 10-15% of Sicilian wine is bottled. The rest is sold in bulk or at these "filling stations." Another interesting fact about Sicilian wine is that only about 3% of the island's wines is DOC. This, however, is misleading because Sicilia, unlike Piemonte, for example, rejected a DOC for the whole island. Instead Sicilia went for an IGT that allowed them more flexibility and less government interference. In fact, some of the bigger wineries did not want the DOC put on wines that did not reflect the true identity of Sicilia. This shows that the Sicilians want to stay as far away from Roma as possible. The less governmental interference, the better. When someone asks me, are you Italian? I answer, no, I am Sicilian. - Charles Scicolone, Wine Director, I Trulli and Vino Charles would love hear from you. Please email him at charles@vinosite.com.