For Tenuta di Fessina owner Silvia Maestrelli, “I look up to Mount Etna like a daughter would look up to a mother.”
Or possibly a phoenix.
Like a mother, Mt Etna or A Muntagna, as the locals refer to the mountain, is a living organism. Ash, dust, and smoke from Etna, at 11,000′ the highest active volcano in Europe, give the region its distinctive volcanic soil which brings unique flavors, styles, and character to the wines grown there.
Winemaking in Sicily goes back to 4000BC. The Greeks developed viticulture there brought in the 8th century B.C, and with its central location in the Mediterranean, it’s no surprise that The Phoenicians and the Romans traded Sicilian wines which led to their renown.
Located between two ancient lava beds, the volcano and Tenuta di Fessina together create a unique micro climate. In the village of Rovittello, the winery has vineyards on different sides of the mountain, in Rovittello and between Milo and Santa Maria di Licodìa.
First celebrated in 1989, Italian American Heritage Month each October honors and recognizes the centuries of achievements and contributions of the Italian immigrants and Italian Americans. Between 1820 and 2000, over five million Italians immigrated to the United States between 1820 and 2000 bringing with them a rich cuisine, and a tradition of growing grapes and making wine.
Today 26 million Americans of Italian descent live in the United States making Italian-Americans the fifth largest ethnic group in our nation, according to the Order of the Sons and Daughters of Italy and they will be celebrating all month. Here‘s a list of festivals. Continue reading →
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) September 24, 2020
Unfortunately they did not include any of the video clips I sent them in the digital edition, but you can find some of the violin in the vineyard Continue reading →
YuEn Gemma Kim, violinist, soars above and stays socially distant from my fish dishes paired with two wines from the northern Côtes du Rhône, France.
The Rhône River Valley in southeastern France is a BIG place: 165K acres of BIG, and about 150 miles from north to south. About 5% of this region is considered “northern Rhône” featuring Syrah and Viognier, and 95% is “Southern Rhône” featuring Grenache and an assortment of other red and white grapes including Mourvedre, Cinsault, Marsanne, and Rousanne (which I will be writing about next week). The smaller northern region has a more moderate continental climate with a focus on Syrah with fresh acidity; the southern is more mediteranean and warm and allows challenging grapes like Mourvede to ripen. Continue reading →
When it’s a wine made from a Rhône grape grown anywhere other than the Rhône region in France!
This seems obvious to me now following a webinar all about the wines of the Rhône where they made this point.
Just like the only wine you can call Champagne is from Champagne. Everything else is simply sparkling wine.
The words “sparkling wine” is an easy replacement for Champagne. But I haven’t found a reasonable term that covers those grapes we commonly associate with the Rhône Valley of France. Earlier this year I called wines from Tablas Creek “Rhône Inspired” but that’s not satisfying to me as a wine word smith.
What is satisfying? These four wines from the El Dorado AVA using grapes from the Rhône River Valley in France.
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 