Pauline
Forums Admin
Colleen linked to this article about Sicily on Facebook.
AFAR Magazine - Into the Vines: The Wines and Winemakers of Sicily
Chef Gabrielle Hamilton meets the independent winemakers who bottle the flavor of Sicily.
From the article: "I spend the whole afternoon eagerly driving around in the countryside of Vittoria—one of Sicily’s most visited wine regions—excited to meet her. I comb the famous wine route SP68, surrounded by dirty, dusty, hardworking vines laden with grapes, and yet I don’t find Occhipinti."
Vittoria is west of Scicli where we stayed. We drove through the town when we left Scicli on our way to Agrigento, and we got lost in the area too. I did not notice many vineyards. I find it hard to believe this is one of Sicily most visited wine regions (and yet, after some Googling, I find I am wrong - this is an important wine area). The nearby seaside town of Gela (west of Vittoria) is very industrial and ugly. There were more vineyards in central southern Sicily, near Sciacca where we spent two nights. The article also mentions Sambuca di Sicilia which is near Sciacca.
Judy Witts, who many of us know from SlowTrav, offers food and wine tours of Sicily and was mentioned in the print version of the article. Her guests stay at the Planeta Winery, which is mentioned in the article (near Sciacca).
Scicli, where we stayed, near Ragusa, is mentioned twice in the article, but only in the photo captions (and the second photo that is captioned Scicli, is actually of Ragusa):
"The small town of Scicli, just outside Ragusa, retains a slow pace that offers a real glimpse of traditional Sicilian life."
"Less well known than its prestigious neighbors, the town of Scicli sits in a gorge and was rebuilt in a Sicilian Baroque style after a major earthquake destroyed much of the town in 1693."
I agree with that - Scicli was a very nice town!
AFAR Magazine - Into the Vines: The Wines and Winemakers of Sicily
Chef Gabrielle Hamilton meets the independent winemakers who bottle the flavor of Sicily.
From the article: "I spend the whole afternoon eagerly driving around in the countryside of Vittoria—one of Sicily’s most visited wine regions—excited to meet her. I comb the famous wine route SP68, surrounded by dirty, dusty, hardworking vines laden with grapes, and yet I don’t find Occhipinti."
Vittoria is west of Scicli where we stayed. We drove through the town when we left Scicli on our way to Agrigento, and we got lost in the area too. I did not notice many vineyards. I find it hard to believe this is one of Sicily most visited wine regions (and yet, after some Googling, I find I am wrong - this is an important wine area). The nearby seaside town of Gela (west of Vittoria) is very industrial and ugly. There were more vineyards in central southern Sicily, near Sciacca where we spent two nights. The article also mentions Sambuca di Sicilia which is near Sciacca.
Judy Witts, who many of us know from SlowTrav, offers food and wine tours of Sicily and was mentioned in the print version of the article. Her guests stay at the Planeta Winery, which is mentioned in the article (near Sciacca).
Scicli, where we stayed, near Ragusa, is mentioned twice in the article, but only in the photo captions (and the second photo that is captioned Scicli, is actually of Ragusa):
"The small town of Scicli, just outside Ragusa, retains a slow pace that offers a real glimpse of traditional Sicilian life."
"Less well known than its prestigious neighbors, the town of Scicli sits in a gorge and was rebuilt in a Sicilian Baroque style after a major earthquake destroyed much of the town in 1693."
I agree with that - Scicli was a very nice town!
