Written for the Circle Update, Circle of Wine Writers
Tasca d’Almerita
“You are home!” Conrad Maurigi said as we arrived. “If only!” would have been my response, not from being tired on last stop of the week but because Tasca d’Almerita is a place of sublime beauty. Lolloping hillsides striped with green vines and studded with white sheep set the scene for this beautiful large farmhouse in the center of Sicily. If my home was like this I don’t think I’d leave, not even to pop out for milk.
And actually popping out for milk on Tasca d’Almerita isn’t necessary because the whopping 500 hectare estate encompasses not only 55 wine varieties in the vineyards, but also orchards, vegetable patches, a thick forest and flocks upon flocks of sheep. At dinner we reaped the rewards of their sustainable farmyard approach with divine homemade ricotta, delicious lamb and stuffed aubergine with lashings of estate-produced olive oil. Yes, life is ‘dolce’ in Sicily…
In a perfect aristocratic fairytale, the estate is owned by a family of Counts and two brothers who still run the show with their 200 staff members spread across five vineyards. The largest vineyard is the Regaleali estate (where we were in Valledolmo) and they produce a wide variety of native and international varieties; on Salina island they produce Malvasia in a nice floral and peppery dry wine and a sweet passito version; from an island on the coast of Tipani they produce a Grillo; from the central region of Monreal they produce a range of varieties; and finally in their portfolio they have an Etna wine too, a Nerello Mascalese. The crown is the Regaleali estate though, where we were staying the evening and where they have a cooking school as well as seven family rooms for guests to stay overnight.
A delicious dinner, vineyard tour and extensive tasting in the morning all flew by and before you knew it we were back on the coach with the sad realization that Tasca Conti d’Almerita wasn’t our home… It was for one night though, and that was certainly a highlight of the trip.