Feudo Ramaddini

The 1st of May for me is an early start, to those long and lazy, luxurious summer days. Every year there is a sailing competition called the Malta – Marzamemi race. The boys scrutinise weather charts and sea patterns while the girls plan the food and the vineyard visit. Yes, even one day in Sicily, the two must have’s are a fabulous meal at Sakaleo and a wine and food tasting.

Depending on the wind, the on-board dining is carefully planned. We knew the sea would be calm enough to open and lay the table on the deck, therefore, out came the food and of course the wine’s. I will spare you all the details of the five course meal that was lovingly prepared and go straight to the dessert. I’m new to this blog thing, so I’m not too sure how much detail you wish to read, I guess you will have to post comments and let me know.

Anyway, back to the dessert, fresh strawberries and wait for it, an aged Tokaji Aszu 3 Puttonyos. Every day is a blessing and a gift from The Big Guy above and we bless ourselves with good wine and food.

Sunset, Tokaji and I. Please note, the Tokaji is being reflected onto the horizon, well almost. This for me is Heavenly bliss, being close to the water while sipping and watching the sun dip.

Arriving in Marzamemi, we tend to remaining chilling on-board. Yes, we have tried eating in town several times only to be so disappointed. One example, we went to this snooty looking restaurant on the quay. The staff all smartly dressed, long black aprons, tables beautifully laid and our food arrived. I ordered pasta vongole, fresh pepper ceremoniously sprinkled, in went my first forkful, I honestly almost gagged. I got a small mouthful of pasta, vongole and crunch crunch. Sand! To cut a long story short, this beefy looking woman arrived, the owner, guess what she said, “vongole with no sand are frozen, if there is no sand they won’t be fresh!” She threatened us to pay or call the police. Halfheartedly the bill was paid and we said some ‘pretty’ words in our language.

If anyone has eaten a wonderful meal in Marzamemi please let me know.

The following day, the hired car was ready and waiting . ‘Jesse’, our GPS was plugged in and off we went at 9.30 am for a wine a nibble tasting. I highly recommend a visit to this winery, it’s very old and interesting. One fact that intrigued me was how the wine used to be transported in times long past……through a wine-a-duct. This is like an aqueduct but for wine, traveling for several kilometers.

The walls of the tasting room were lined with awards. My approval of these prizes were verified once I tasted their wines. My favourite was the Passito di Noto and the very one, that laced the walls, with most certificates. The Nero D’Avola was also a beautiful bodied wine that went down smoothly.

Feeling slightly heady, we happily made our way to our next destination. This was an hour and a half drive to our favourite restaurant and Jesse promptly took us there, Scoglietti. This fish place rightly deserves it’s own blog post so I will attend to it separately, a presto!