Fresh from the grill: halibut and pizza with wines from Sicily #ItalianFWt
Looking for a healthy easy meal from the grill? This summer season, seek Sicilian wines to pair with pizza and halibut cooked outside! More often than not, Sicilian wines are made with organically grown grapes — winds and other weather patterns on the island in the south of Italy provide vines with the healthy conditions they need to grow. Without the disease pressure found in other areas of the world where grapes are grown, it is easier in Sicily to grow organically — so they do! They just don’t always get them certified, or post that info on the label even if they are growing grapes without chemicals.
And instead of grilling meat, how about fresh halibut marinated briefly in olive oil and fresh Italian herbs, then cooked with lemon juice and capers?
This live halibut almost jumped out of the scale at the Ventura Harbor Fisherman’s market held every Saturday morning; Palermo in Sicily is famous for its fresh fish markets where you can buy a whole fresh fish or a fillet from the fisherman
Plus mini-pizzas cooked on the fire? (Be sure to get a nice char!) A hearty salad rounds out a meal to keep you and your friends and family cool and healthy too. For dessert, try barely sweetened biscotti with a dab of marscapone and marmalade. If you want to stick with foods from the grill, grilled stone fruit would be delicious — or a grilled stone fruit salad. Sue also found a recipe for grilled grapes dipped in marscapone and blue cheese– yum! I have to admit, on a subsequent night I paired the two Nero D’Avola with a beautiful steak slathered with the blue cheese marscapone mixture! Delicious!
This month, the Italian Food Wine Travel Group has us pairing food from the grill with Italian wine, and we are here for it! (Scroll down for their ideas.) I actually bought a whole LIVE halibut from the fisherman who caught it, and we experimented with it on the grill for four nights culminated in this method of cooking it on the grill.
mini-pizzas and Sicilian wines with mediteranean salad with Ansaldi Sicilian balsamic oil
3 Affordable Wines from Sicily
- 2020 Barone Montalto “Collezione di Famiglia” Pinot Grigio, Terre Siciliane IGT
- 2013 Casale di Mimmo Nero d’Avola Terre Siciliane IGT
- 2018 Cantine Vinci “Lithos” Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC
Italian Summer Menu from the Grill
- Grilled Halibut with Italian Seasonings, Capers, Lemon, Anchovies
- Grilled Pizzas–
Margarita
Garlic and Olive Oil
Calabrese Salami and Black Olives with grated truffle cheese finish - Salad: greens, garbanzo beans marinated in lemon, parsley, cumin, lemon and garlic dressing
- Almond Biscotti with organic Sicilian Ansaldi Marmalade and Marscapone
2020 Barone Montalto Pinot Grigio Sicilia IGT
2020 Barone Montalto Pinot Grigio Sicilia IGT
ABV: 12%
SRP: $12
Grapes: 100% Pinot Grigio; not stated on the label organic but likely is
Importer: Mack and Schule
sample for review
While Grillo is THE white wine from Italy, other white grapes are grown on the island including the well-known and popular Pinot Grigio which is more commonly grown in northern Italy.
Appearance: pale gold lemon with a green tinge and a platinum rim, catches the light with a sparkly brilliance
Aroma: herbs, salinity, minerals like wet stone
Palate: salinity, rose geranium, daisy, sea grass, distinctly different from other pinot gris or Grigio from other parts of the world which is fun, interesting mouthfeel — slick, great acidity but slick smooth silky mouthfeel. Approachable and enjoyable for a before dinner drink or with the meal.
Pairing: This wine loves the grilled fish — so good with the Italian herbs and with the salad– put it beside or with a salad with lots of garlic and herbs. Great with the char on the margarita pizza; again would love anchovies on the garlic pizza with this wine too, works well with saltiness. The char on the pizza is so good with this wine! We love it with the calabrese and the olive responds to the truffle making it sweet. This wine is so much more fruity with food– Meyer lemon– lemony lemonade the fruit comes out with these dishes
2018 Cantine Vinci “Lithos” Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC
2018 Cantine Vinci “Lithos” Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC
ABV: 13.5
SRP: 15 euros
Grapes: Nero d’Avola; not stated on the label organic but likely is
Importer:
sample for review
Love this fun label!
Appearance: dense dark ruby going to garnet, garnet rim, can not see through it!
Aroma: cherry, rhubarb, dry brush, sage, iron, minerals, salinity, earthy umami, rosemary; I could smell this all day and not get bored; sandalwood,
Palate: text bright cherry, ripe plum, sandalwood, cinnamon bark, loamy soil, balanced characters, sage, eucalyptus, herbacousness, nice acidity and tannins but well balanced not overwhelming, could do without food but wait — how much better can it get
Pairing: food brings out the fruit cherry sweetness, pizza sauce is sweeter with the wine, calabrese is even more spicy and hot, it makes the flavors distinct in the pizza, but makes the wine woody, likes the rich tomatoes and tomatoes sauce, great pizza wine, brings out the sweetness in the margarita– much prefer the fresh tome with the fresh fruit, with the garlic farm pizza loves the saltiness — maybe anchovies! omg so good with the salad
2013 Casale di Mimmo Nero d’Avola Terre Siciliane IGT
2013 Casale di Mimmo Nero d’Avola Terre Siciliane IGT
ABV: 14%
SRP: about $15 for current vintage
Grapes: Nero d’Avola; not stated on the label organic but likely is
Importer: MHW Ltd.
sample for review
Yes, this wine aged well!
Appearance: Medium density, garnet with copper rim
Aroma: funky, iron rich, cherry, rhubarb, fennel, earthy, loamy, clary sage, BBQ sauce, meaty, savory, roasted pork loin with cherry BBQ sauce
Palate: texttart cherry, rhubarb, sage, umami, savory, very dry, tannins, dry and cool finish on the palate like winter in the snow, fruit diminished but present, church spaces, sandalwood, wild roses, rose hip tea
Pairing: garlic pizza loves the char, the garlic, could have anchovies, margarita with loves the tomato and the basil and the char crunchy bottom, go with things with salinity so the olive and the spicy calabrese and the truffle cheese adds some richness and earthy flavor that goes wells with the wine, goes great with the lemony herbal brightness in the salad esp the garlic raw infused int he oil which is on the pizza as well
Discover more Italian wines and grilled food pairings!
- Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm features “Chicken Spiedini and Il Sorriso from Sicily”
- Camilla of the Culinary Cam entices us with “Simple but Spectacular: Grilled Top Sirloin + Attilio Ghisolfi 2018 Sbardaja Nebbiolo”
- Terri at Our Good Life shares “Savor the Flavors: Exploring the Perfect Pairing of Italian Wine and Barbecue with Speri Amarone 2018”
- Here on Wine Predator we offer “Fresh from the grill: Halibut and Pizza with wines from Sicily”
- Host Martin of Enofylz Wine Blog says“Discover Abruzzo: Five Masciarelli Wines and Smoked Wild Boar Pairings”
- Alison of Artisan Wine Tasting features “Elio Filippino 4 Amis Lange Rosso from Piedmont and a Filet, mushroom and brandy on the grill”
- Jennifer of Vino Travels Italy serves up “Chicken and Shrimp Skewers with Poggio della Dogana Romagna Albana”
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 
Nothing better than fish that fresh except perhaps pairing it with the perfect wine.
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Agreed!
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Yum. I adore grilled halibut, and yours looks diving Gwendolyn! Sounds like delightful wines and pairings too! Cheers
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Fresh halibut is especially delicious!
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