{"id":5817,"date":"2023-03-15T05:54:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T09:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/?p=5817"},"modified":"2023-03-15T05:54:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T09:54:16","slug":"into-the-vines-the-story-of-sicilys-top-winemakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/15\/into-the-vines-the-story-of-sicilys-top-winemakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Into the Vines: The Story of Sicily\u2019s Top Winemakers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chef Gabrielle Hamilton meets the independent winemakers who bottle the flavor of Sicily.<\/p><p><strong><em>by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.afar.com\/authors\/gabrielle-hamilton\">Gabrielle Hamilton<\/a> for AFAR &#8211;<\/em><\/strong> I was married for more than 10 years to an Italian. An Italian Italian, from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.afar.com\/travel-guides\/italy\/rome\/guide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rome<\/a>, and we traveled to Italy frequently. But somehow, we never went to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.afar.com\/travel-tips\/a-week-in-sicily\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sicily<\/a>. More confounding, for the 14 years I\u2019ve had my Manhatttan restaurant,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.afar.com\/places\/prune-new-york\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Prune<\/a>, I\u2019ve been selling, drinking, and championing certain Sicilian wines, never having met the people who make them. These excellent bottles from distant, faceless winemakers have arrived at my restaurant door stacked up on a hand truck and been lunked down the stairs to the basement by some indifferent, burly Brooklyn truck driver wearing a weight lifter\u2019s belt, while I\u2019ve signed the shipping receipt.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"5821\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/?attachment_id=5821\" class=\"wp-image-5821\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1-1.jpg 1418w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"685\" src=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"5822\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/?attachment_id=5822\" class=\"wp-image-5822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5-400x269.jpg 400w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5-600x401.jpg 600w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5-135x90.jpg 135w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-5.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"685\" src=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"5823\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/?attachment_id=5823\" class=\"wp-image-5823\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4-400x269.jpg 400w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4-600x401.jpg 600w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4-135x90.jpg 135w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-4.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\"><sup>For centuries, Italy\u2019s southernmost region, Sicily, has been a center of Mediterranean viniculture.\u00a0Photos by Francesco Lastrucci<\/sup><br><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>But I\u2019ve always felt connected to these wines. When Prune opened in 1999, if you were eating in serious dining rooms throughout the United States, you found the same tuna tartare and goat cheese and beet salad being served by Nehru-jacketed waiters to a Gypsy Kings sound track. At that time, Sicilian wines were still generally thought of as cheap, mass-produced wines. Prune\u2019s quirky dishes, such as monkfish liver on toast and roasted marrow bones, and the restaurant\u2019s unapologetic East Village demeanor (graffitied-over front gate, tattooed waitresses) were as unfamiliar in the dining scene as Sicily\u2019s peppery nero d\u2019Avola, curiously chilled frappato, and nearly mentholated nerello mascalese were in the wine world.<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"677\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-5818\" data-id=\"5818\" src=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-677x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-677x1024.jpg 677w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-768x1162.jpg 768w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-1015x1536.jpg 1015w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-1353x2048.jpg 1353w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-600x908.jpg 600w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-40x60.jpg 40w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2-59x90.jpg 59w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-2.jpg 1418w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 677px) 100vw, 677px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Alberto Tasca, the son of Count Lucio Tasca, shares a bottle of Rosso di Conte with his cousin, Fabrizia Lanza, who runs a nearby cooking school.Photo by Francesco Lastrucci<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"685\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-5819\" data-id=\"5819\" src=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-685x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-685x1024.jpg 685w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-768x1148.jpg 768w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-1028x1536.jpg 1028w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-1370x2048.jpg 1370w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-600x897.jpg 600w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-40x60.jpg 40w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3-60x90.jpg 60w, https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-3.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 685px) 100vw, 685px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Arianna OcchipintiPhoto by Francesco Lastrucci<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afar.com\/magazine\/into-the-vines-the-wines-and-winemakers-of-sicily\">Read more here<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chef Gabrielle Hamilton meets the independent winemakers who bottle the flavor of Sicily. by\u00a0Gabrielle Hamilton for AFAR &#8211; I was married for more than 10 years to an Italian. An&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1204,1202,1203],"class_list":{"0":"post-5817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-exploring-sicily","9":"tag-sicilian-wine","10":"tag-top-sicilian-winemakers"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sicilian-wine-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5824,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5817\/revisions\/5824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}