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Sunday, August 20, 2006

Nero d'Avola in Another Light

Texas~Vineyards for Stone?
or Italy~Vineyards for Wine...
One week later, back in the warm Texas cradle of love. Our vineyards here have turned to stone, the heat has been so intense. But you didn't come here to listen to this. We need wine. We need happiness. We need freedom. "Let them drink Cakebread!"

Yeah, OK, whatever you want. Don't want to think about your big car and the war your grandkids will have to fight over the oil? No need to. We're in A-M-E-R-I-C-A. We put the I CAN back in AMER-I-CAN! It'll all work out. The other guy'll take care of it. It's been outsourced. Like the man said, it'll all work out.
Back on the plane and through all the gates and checkpoints, I found an alternate universe. Somewhere between the checkpoint and the final gate, there was a vortex, and I veared to the right. Once inside, things were a bit different.
At first I was thinking I'd made a mistake, but then I noticed it wasn't hot anymore. Or cold. I knew this wasn't San Diego (they weren't playing "that" music), so it seemed like a ride worth taking. Let's just call it the Sunday Spaceship.
There was a little horse pond with some words in Italian. We were somewhere near a lake, a body of water. This was all blending in together, emulsifying like an olive oil mayonnaise. What was this salad? Which wine were we opening today?

In a few weeks, this pond site in another dimension will host a conclave of Italian artists, Planeta's Viaggio in Sicilia. This is my alternate universe, opening up onto the Sicilian mindscape. A fabulous gathering: artists and Italians of all ages and artistic persuasion.

I'm in the mood to open a bottle of wine on this Sunday afternoon. As it should be the kind of wine to mirror the mood, the choice is narrowed to a Sicilian red. Why do I come back to this island? What is it there for me? A bowl of red, this sharing cup of my Sicilian soul?

Sandro Bracchitta - Segreta geometria 1

It must be Nero d'Avola, for this Noir-esque mood I'm in. The sun is burning down on my head, creating this inversion into a cool, dark, cavernous confluence of mood and soul, wine and spirit.

I'm staying in here for awhile. I won't be coming out. You know where to find me.

Links...
some of my favorite Nero d'Avola wines

Planeta Santa Cecilia Nero d'Avola

Barone La Lumia Don Toto'

Morgante Don Antonio

Rapitala