Seeking Out Sicily
We just returned from a most memorable week’s road trip around the island of Sicily which included a stop off at FWM Canada’s import partner winery, Cusumano. This huge island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, surrounded by azure blue waters, is almost a continent on its own. Whether it’s the historic Valley of the Temples in Agrigento to Mount Etna which erupts regularly, it’s a kaleidoscope of cuisine, culture, places, buildings and historic landscapes. The diverse geography with sandy beaches and mountains in the backdrop extends to huge expanses of orange, lemon and olive groves and vast fields of diverse vegetables ripening in the warm Sicilian sun. And let’s not forget vast acreages of vineyards, approximately 120,000 hectares at last count. It was the Greeks who brought the vine to Sicily over 3,000 years ago. The best known and most widely cultivated red varietal, and indigenous to the island, is the Nero D’Avola. With a deep red colour and flavour, it yields wines with moderate structure, juicy acidity and soft-to-medium tannins – just what today’s consumer is looking for.
Cusumano winery’s Nero D’Avola is readily available in a wide range of LCBO retail locations. Although a bit of a challenge to duplicate, we would pair this wine with a pasta dish, Sicilian style. Busiate alla Trapanese is a staple to be found on the menus of almost every trattoria in the ancient port town of Trapani located on Sicily’s north western coast. Busiate is a special hand-twirled spaghetti-like pasta served with a pesto of tomatoes, basil, garlic and almonds. The Poiatti brand of pasta, the best, hails from Sicily and is made with 100% locally grown grain. We have been told most commercial Italian pastas nowadays are made with components of imported grains. Check availability with your neighbourhood specialty Italian grocer.