Cantine Florio

Long time ago I promised I would have dedicated a post to Cantine Florio, eventually I kept my promise and here we are to talk about the visit of the famous cellars.

doors of the shop 

The visit of the Cantine Florio is a must do if you stop in Marsala, 10 euro well spent for the guided tour, there is also the opportunity to do it in English, our guide was Sarah, she is very good and jaunty, with a wide knowledge of wines and wine making.
The cellars are located in a huge baglio in front of the sea, on the outskirts of Marsala in an area where other cellars are located.
The cellars are enormous with packed-earth floor and lines of piled barriques that forms corridors  that went to America at the beginning of the XX century for an exhibition and few other stuff.

the cellar

where you walk through. Those cellars have been rebuilt after Second World War because they were severely damaged during the bombing of the area, unfortunately most of the Marsala production went lost, but they saved a huge barrel
The symbol of the Florio family - a sick lion in search of relief - refers to their main activity: they were chemists and they had the government permission for selling quinine to treat malaria a very common disease in the late XIX century in many areas of the South of Italy.
There are more memorabilia of Garibaldi and Mille's landing here rather than in the actual

the Florio family emblem

Garibaldi's museum in the town centre.
Going through we spotted a barrique filled the same day my husband was born, great coincidence!

a special barrique

Don't miss the tasting at the end of the tour: it's really emotional involving, I had shivers tasting those superb Marsala wines! Better to do in small groups as far as possible, you need silence to meditate those wines.

wine tasting

So don't wait any longer go and enjoy a glass of Marsala!
Cheers,
ML xx

West of Sicily: Marsala

There are so many bits and bobs I've started to write down in the past months and haven't go time to finished...

As usual I'm celebrating my adored Sicily. Why mine? I can proudly say that a quarter of my blood is Sicilian.

Last September we spent a holiday in Sicily,  we visited the western part, landing in Trapani airport where we rent a car and traveled around. If you want to visit Sicily, unless you are staying in a big city, bear in mind that you need a car, distances are not so enormous but there are not good connections. Trapani airport is a small one, we queued for a while but not due to the personnel of the rent a car but due to disorganized customers. Coming back there were severe controls on the weight of the hand luggage, so be careful not to buy too many things, otherwise you have to leave them there. The civil airport shares the runway with the military one, recently quite busy, if there is a little delay the risk is that it takes longer due to closure of the flying zone.

Marsala Chiesa Madre from via Vaccari (B&B Il Profumo del Sale)

Firstly we stopped in Marsala for few days, I've been pleasantly surprised by that lively and elegant town, located in the extreme western bit of Sicily. In Marsala we stayed in a lovely B&B Il Profumo del Sale, right in the town centre, few steps away from the Cathedral square, near the "circolo" strictly for men only, where everyday I always spotted an elegant  and old man reading the newspaper. He looked like Il Gattopardo.
The owner of the B&B, Celsa is an active lady from the North of Italy who chose to live in Sicily, she used to run a restaurant so you will never be disappointed by the breakfast she prepares. Follow her precious suggestions for itineraries, she knows the area and what is worth visiting.

Marsala enoteca Sirena Ubriaca: the best aperitif

Marsala San Lorenzo Osteria

We tried all the nice restaurants in town, avoiding those that offer touristic menu,  worth to mention for a very good service and good food and very nice cosy atmosphere is San Lorenzo Osteria. If  you'd rather have an aperitif, stop at La Sirena Ubriaca try a tasting of Marsala wines and you won't be disappointed, meanwhile enjoy the "struscio" (a real ritual in that town!), much better that the more than packed Mercato del pesce, which is a proper fish market in the morning and in the evening becomes the heart of the local movida.

Marsala "struscio" at Porta Garibaldi

Marsala fish market by night

A must do visit is the Cantine Florio, a journey through the history of Sicily, of wine production and of a great family, the Florio. But this is a long story and I will talk about it in another post...

See you soon
ML

Marsala fish market during the day

Memories of Pantelleria - part 1

Pantelleria is a small volcanic island in the Mediterranean sea half way between Tunisia and Sicily, my husband and I spent summer holidays there twice and we fell in love of this fantastic spot in the middle of the sea.


Pantelleria really remains in our memory as one of the greatest places we ever been since now, where you feel detached from the rest of the world, where nature provides so much richness, from the green covered volcanic hills, planted with grapes, to the open bays with warm thermals from this naturally volcanic island.

The first time we stayed for a week in a dammuso (typical house of the isle) not far from the main village. Not worth renting a car, better a moped due to the roads, to reach the best spots most of them are small off roads. I will never forget the answer of an old man when we were in desperate search of a petrol station to refuel our empty moped while being on the wrong side of the island, he replied "don't worry the road is going down now" the only thing was we didn't know how far we still had to go to get to the only petrol pump, but that comment gave us the idea how relaxing the place was.

Everyday we would go out and discover new corners of the isle, we really fell in love with the island and each other. There are the ancient dammusi, or the perfectly conceived giardino pantesco, a real house built just to protect citrus trees from the strength of winter sea winds, creating a little oasis of peace from the constant sea breeze's on the isle of winds.

Only the other day and ten years later we opened a bottle of Moscato di Pantelleria that we brought back with us. After many years we tasted the same rich, sweet and dense flavors that struck us when we tasted it first in one of the very good restaurants we found on the island.

And that wine brought back to mind the work of hardworking men who cultivate the vineyard creating small crates around each plant, which is no more than the size of a small bush, and work every day to produce wines as valuable as what we drank after so many years but which preserves aroma and flavor of the sun in Pantelleria.