A mere twenty five minute drive from Trapani airport, we arrived at Firriato wine and dine resort. I had booked a five wine tasting with food, known as a ‘degustazione’. The route to this new resort, I must add, in the middle of nowhere, was gloriously heavenly. Gently winding roads through rolling hills covered in blooming vines ready to burst open their new buds and alternating pink and white oleander shrubs, my least favourite plant, lining one side of the road. Strangely enough they brought a smile to my face as they appeared to be screaming, “hey we can look beautiful!!” They gave off vibes of serenity and happiness and personally this is what we all need in our lives. Instantly, I decided I to like this shrub.
Arriving there at four in the sunny afternoon, the restaurant was closed but since I had corresponded with the ‘padrone’ and it was our thirtieth wedding anniversary, an exception was made.
Firriato resort is only two years old, the staff all young and eager to please led us to the tasting room. I was blown away by the elegance and solid richness of the room. High ceilings, a long heavy refectory table all beautifully laid and the warmth of the oak barrels lined snugly against one wall, gave me that fuzzy feeling with goosebumps, running up my body. The room was just for us two and it felt overwhelming and slightly daunting.
Luca the Sommelier was expecting us and he gently coaxed us to take a seat. An array of glasses were placed in front of us and a discussion ensued regarding the wines that we were about to taste. The poor guy, realizing I knew what I enjoyed drinking seemed rather apprehensive. He had a plan in mind and this was disrupted and thrown out of the window. He actually started rubbing his hair when he required a pensive time-out to re plan his strategy. I felt sorry for him, but I was there for a purpose, to sample the non entry level wines. After awhile he said “ I don’t normally do this but I am going to close an eye and get the special wines.” Service at its best.
The north west of Sicily is famous for its Grillo and Catarratto grape, besides others of course. The Grillo grape is a true chameleon! A grape variety with ‘super camouflaging powers’. Wines produced from it, can have so many different styles. It is interesting that I’m calling it a chameleon… Grillo means “cricket” in Italian… Yes, a cricket that can come in many different shapes and colours! To continue to clarify and make this a significant point, there are actually 2,400 species of crickets, probably less when it comes to Grillo wines. I personally find Grillo to be slightly less acidic than Sauvignon blanc wines with maybe just a bit more body. I thoroughly enjoy Grillo, it is an easy drinking beach, boat wine and we commenced with the latest vintage 2015. It was what I had expected but I also wished to compare it to my favourite house of ‘Rapitala, the Piano Maltese wine. It was good, yet not one to say wow to or have its bouquet imprinted in your brain and imperative to own a bottle. For every occasion there is a style of wine to complement the moment and here was a nice aperitif style of vino to kick start the tasting. I must add here that Luca had some Champagne to commence the tasting, but hubby and I are not really bubbly people, not in the literal sense of course.
The second wine was delicately poured, it was meant to be in the same glass. This is a problem for me, as I like to leave a bit of wine to go back to and taste again. Luca said, “no it’s not possible,” looking at him with a pleading smile he got up and placed another array of wine glasses. I swirled and dipped my nose in the glass and closed my eyes so the sense of smell is heightened by no other distractions. Imagine the flower jasmine hitting your nostrils, then on the palate, an extremely elegant, well balanced wine. I have never tasted anything like this. Intrigued and questions sliding off my tongue I was informed that this wine is actually named Jasmine. It was a divine dry ‘Zibibbo’ wait for it, from the island of Favignana. Firriato is the only winery that grow grapes on this island. It took the company around six years to discover how to grow grapes there. Why? The reason is that the vines are almost at the shoreline. An interesting aspect is that a zillion years ago Favignana was submerged. This resulted in the ‘terrior’ being full of shells therefore giving the grapes a lot of minerality. The soil is pure virgin white, all broken up shells. Only five thousand bottles are produced and sold within a few months, mainly to the UK strangely enough. I had to get my hands on one of these bottles and it also came at a price of twenty three euro a bottle, yet so worth it.
Most people associate the Zibibbo grape as a dessert wine and not a dry vino. I enjoy weird and wonderful wines and this rightly fit my style of golden liquid on my palate. The food arrived to accompany this intriguing wine. A wonderful platter, very typical of Trapani ‘assaggini’. Toasted bread with an interesting array of toppings, sardines, tomatoes, tuna tartare, the most amazingly delicious couscous I have ever savoured, salami with crushed pistachios and a variety of ‘pecorino’ sheep cheese to accompany the last wine. Still excited about this Jasmine wine Luca went on to explain that the Zibibbo grapes are transported by boat from Favignana to the Firriato winery, where they are made into this glorious wine.
The next wine, an Etna, pre phylloxera wine with vines as old as one hundred and fifty years. When a vine is that old only two bunches of grapes actually grow therefore resulting in more concentrated flavours. I was actually hesitant to try it, as Etna wines I usually find them rather harsh unless they are aged. This wine was elegant and extremely drinkable and I actually enjoyed it. The winemaker decided to go for Slovenian oak barrels and this must have also aided it in making it wonderfully elegant to drink. The second of the red wines was my favourite and I tend to be more of a white wine drinker. On the nose ripe red berries and french oak barrique gave it a sophisticated style of wine. This was their Rebeca line, the higher end of Firriato’s portfolio of wine and it reminded me of a meatier, heavier Pinot Noir. The grape, a very indigenous one named ‘Perricone’ was a lovely pleasure to indulge in.
The last of the wines a Zibibbo and Malvasia blend to produce their well known dessert wine named ‘L’Ecru’. A deep amber in colour, luscious and quite fragrant of apricots with hints of lightly stewed fruits, it reminded me of an ice wine, it was stupendous. After a sip your mouth is salivating for wanting more, yet I like to wait, to indulge in the length, meaning how long you can keep on tasting these wonderful flavours. It was like a super long rush coming in waves and never ending. When it did, your palate is left with a bold taste of acacia honey. Such a special wine from a warm and sunny country, unlike the minus temperatures of Canada which is famous for its ice wine.
All good things come to an end, yet not before visiting their wine shop to buy three of the six wines we tasted. Originally we had five wines to indulge in and ended with six wines without even asking for the extra, how’s that for service with a smile.