Palermo Tasting and Wine Tour of Western Sicily
Loris Scagliarini –– Published - May 31, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 – Cottanera Winery, Mount Etna, and Cantine Nicosia
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We rise early and have breakfast, then we board the bus, which takes us to Contrada Iannazo, still in the municipality of Castiglione di Sicilia, where we visit the Azienda Agricola Cottanera owned by the Cambria Brothers (no relation to the Cambria Winery that we visited yesterday, which is owned by the Astone family.) We taste half a dozen wines and have the first snack of the day, with Pecorino Siciliano DOP cheese, salame di maiale nero (black pork salami), olives and bread.
Afterwards we board three Range Rovers and go for a breathtaking tour of Mount Etna, known locally also as the 'Good Giant', which peaks at over 3,000 meters (9,842.5 feet) of elevation, is covered in snow still. Along the road we stop at a parking lot to where representatives of the IRVV join us for the excursion.
At the parking lot at the base of the sky fields, we are welcomed by a line of tables set in the empty parking lot, and a white and red Wine Bus, driven up there for us. Since outside the air is past cool and leaning toward uncomfortably chilly, we all press inside the Wine Bus where we taste five more wines, paired of course with the usual assortment of cheeses and cold cuts, caponata and pasta con le sarde, plus thin, tasty, typical local sausages.
Next, we wave good by to the IRVV representatives, who are taken back the way we come from, while our group is taken to Trecastagni, to visit the Nicosia Winery. First we are led to a walk in the vineyards which have been reclaimed after years of abandonment, with new vines planted carefully respecting the environment, using the existing country roads to separate the cultivation of different grape varieties while giving access to tractors and carts.
The old winery includes a very ancient grape press, which today the management opens periodically to visitors of all ages, who have thus the opportunity to learn about wine making and how this was done in ancient times. Next we visit the new winery, which is in another part of town. After the tour of the bottling plant and part of the ageing cellars, we sit down in the vast tasting room, at an elegantly set, solid wood table. The tasting room alone is bigger than many San Francisco restaurants, and very inviting as it is brightened by the low late afternoon sun coming in through the wide windows. We taste a selection of the top estate wines paired with Pecorino Siciliano DOP and Piacentinu Ennese DOP cheeses, olives, and salame di maiale nero.
 Immediately after the tasting and snacking, which could have easily been a dinner for me, we board the bus sent to pick us up, and are taken to a popular, elegant, spacious, characteristic restaurant where we are served a 10-course meal paired with Frappato, Nerello Mescalese, and Etna Rosso DOC Riserva wines by Cantine Nicosia.
By the time we arrive at our Catania hotel it is close to midnight.
As this is the end of the tour and most guests are leaving in the morning to return to the States and Canada, we check in first, then we meet to compare notes. We also open and taste a few wines of which we have been given samples and find that our related notes differ before we say our good byes and wish each other good night.
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