Wine Tasting

There are 2 other women here right now but they will only be here for a week or two and they are staying on the winery rather than in our apartment. One of them is a sommelier from Canada who won a trip to travel all around Southern Italy and visit the best wineries to learn about the winemaking process. What a trip! The other is a light blond haired, bright-blue eyed girl named Yoni who is from Holland and now lives in Palermo now with her Sicilian boyfriend. She’s studying international business and language and is doing this internship to learn about the marketing/hospitality side of the winery business. She is at the winery for 2 weeks and will work in exportation office in Palermo for 3 months, traveling around Europe and learning about the exportation process.

Today, I joined them in a wine tasting which included a few wines that aren't exported out of Italy. It was great to hear the history about the winery and the stories behind each wine…and the wine wasn‘t bad either ;o) One of the most interesting wines fo me was the Grillo from the ancient island of Mozia. Tasca D’Almerita was asked to take on the project of restoring and improving the historical vineyards here and they’ve produced a wine that is very true to varietal, yet unique due to the land and location of the old vines. For example, there are salt mills on the island, and you can taste the influence from them in the wine.

There is a lot of tradition, history, and pride here. The family has always been and is still very involved in the winery. They live in Palermo but are here at the estate often and work with the people in person rather than just over the phone or through emails. Most of the people that work here have been here for a long time and are like family.