Sicily-Food and Wine
The Sicily vacation was scheduled before we opened the store, joining our friends Jen and Josh Ziskin owners of the restaurants La Morra and the Heritage Inn of Sherborn, and a few friends who enjoy great food, wine, have a lust for adventure, want to cook with Chef Josh. Little did we know that we would be selling olive oil from Sicily and visiting olive oil producers too.
Sharing the travelogue of pictures…scroll along quickly…and book your next vacation!
First glass of Rose’ at Planeta in Trapani
Herbs and Fields of Grape Vines overlooking the sea
We began in Palermo, west to Trapani, south to Agrigento, east to Vittoria, Ragusa, Noto, north to Siracusa, Mt Etna, and ending in Taormina, we put on a lot of miles and covered many climates influenced by the sea, rain, hot and dry, volcanic, and forest. These climate changes the wine production, grapes, and olive trees as well as fruit and vegetables. June was a perfect time to go…
First course, l little bit of fava bean soup, gnocchi, and finished with olive oil
We learned the ancient art of making Ricotta and Provolone cheese visiting a local farmer
First stop shopping for vegetables for dinner- love those cranberry beans
Mulberries are delicious
Kneeding the dough for tonight’s pasta
Finished product…easy!
I’m a lover of the crunchy bread crumbs too with any type of pasta-with anchovies
Temple in Agrigento
The Oldest Olive Tree…
Visiting Taibi Olive Grove
Mr Taibi owner Taibi Olive Oil proudly looking over his olive trees with our guide Tom from Divine Travel and Chef Josh
We learned about early harvest, what constitutes organic, planting fava beans around the trunk of the trees to enhance minerals, and the art of pruning to regulate the harvest. Both Nocellara and Biancoliila olives are grown here. Award Winning 2015 harvest…and we carry their oil.
COS Winery is Outstanding
How the grape harvest starts and is preserved in the heat
We appreciated the expertise and old world methods of the COS Winery
Artwork by the team decorates the cellars
Sicilian Boat Captain serving lunch- he caught the sardines
We fished for our dinner on a boat that could have been the Deadly Catch
NO-we did not catch this tuna, but watched the fishmongers
YES- we caught these fishes and cooked them
Lunch seaside
A snack before dinner, 5 different sausages
Typical picture, could be anywhere in Sicily
Planeta near Mt Etna- hospitality at its finest
Enjoyed the wine and olive oil that comes from this region, different taste with the same olives crushed without the pits…will try to order from this producer.
Branding is perfection. Love these paper placemats
Taormina shopping
Searching for the perfect Negroni and Aperol Spritz
The Taormina Film Fest had begun and Richard Gere was the honorary president. He and assistant and body guards came into the store where we were shopping. I was star struck! There were just 4 of us and him and entourage.
We saw 3 weddings- say yes to the dress-Italian Style
Cleaning the fish was my specialty
The last supper with the group was grilling and chopping and enjoying the delicious wines we had tasted. Toasts of friendship and shared adventures. And CJ and staff did a great job taking charge of the store while we were gone…Bravo!
ps…you can buy the wines from these wineries at Heritage Wine Shop in Sherborn…and book a trip with Duvine Travel. They will not disappoint.