I woke up early in my room at the Tasca D’Almerita Winery. I
could hear the workers coming in for the day and it was a good feeling to know
I was no longer totally alone in this vast place.
After a little work and a quick shower, my ride to go back
to the Anna Lanza Cooking School came to get me for breakfast.
I joined my friend Tracy, who had stayed at the school’s
villa, for a breakfast that was as wonderful as I had been told it would be.
There was homemade marmalade, created from the fruit in the garden; just baked
sweet breads; freshly hatched scrambled eggs; and even homemade yogurt, which I
enjoyed with a delectable fig tart.
Ragaleali is a picturesque Sicilian town up on a mountain
and the area I was in consisted of acres and acres of land that included the winery
and the cooking school. After breakfast,
we walked around for awhile before our tour of the vineyards and winery. I relaxed in the courtyard too, talking with
Jim, one of the cooking school guests. He showed me pictures of some of the
things he made during the week he was there, including ricotta gnocchi, the fig
tart and yogurt, and some very special sardines.
Beyond the garden are the vineyards and there are 1,200
acres that include 50 different varieties of grapes at Tasca D’Almerita. The
most famous are grillo and moscato, but this was also the place that produced
the first chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon in Sicily.
The large, modern equipment at the winery helps produce over
three million bottles a year. They are
using a natural filtration system and love to try new barrels to experiment
with taste (Sicilian chestnut barrels are currently holding some perricone, a
red varietal).
After the tour, we did some tasting. My favorite was the Sallier
de la Tour Le Bianche, actually made at the Pernice Estate in Monreale. It
contains three grapes that are among my favorites – viognier, semillion and
sauvignon blanc – for a crispy and mineral-filled blend with lots of lemon, as
well as tropical pineapple and kiwi.
We headed back to the cooking school for our final meal in
Ragaleali and head chef, owner, and amazing cook Fabrizia Lanza made it a
fantastic one. The pasta with ricotta was amazing, with the freshly produced
cheese and round circles of macaroni. We also had a delicious sausage and
potatoes dish, along with just picked broccoli.
For dessert we had a Moorish Head Cake, filled with light
ricotta cream, as well as sesame cookies that reminded me of the way my aunt
Mary used to make them.
There wasn’t much time to linger as we had a flight to make
from Palermo airport. We barely made it on time to hop the airport boss to the
small propeller plane to Pantelleria. The flight was a short half hour, which
was good because the plane was rather hot.
We could see the beautiful turquoise water as we landed in
this spot, just 20 miles from the African republic of Tanzania. Mimma of
Donnafugata Wines, our host for the next few days, was waiting for us along
with our Yellow Fiat Panda. Fortunately, Tracy knew how to drive a stick shift
because that was our only option and I had only attempted it once when I was a
teenager.
Mimma escorted us to our cute little stone house on the
property of the Donnafugata winery and vineyards, just down the road from the Mediterranean
Sea. After we showered and changed, she took us to La Nicchia, a beautiful
restaurant on the other side of the island. It was quite a unique place, with
what looked like a simple pizzeria in the front and an elegant dining room in
the back, with no ceiling and trees growing among the tables!
We started with the Donnafugata Lighea, a semi-sweet blend
of zibibbo (Moscato d'Alessandria). We got to know each other as we nibbled on
warm focaccia and an outrageous caponata. For an appetizer, I had Ravioli with
Ricotta and Mint, and island specialty, and then a beef filet for a main
course. Mimma and Tracy feasted on Gambaroni, the largest crayfish I had ever
seen
For dessert, we had a flaky and light cannoli and a glass of
2009 Ben Rye, also made from zibibbo, but sweetened from the addition of dried
moscato grapes to the taste of apricot, fig and date.
We were exhausted by the time we got back to the house and did
not expect the night and day ahead of us.
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