Last day at Vinitaly and I was making one last run through the Sicilian pavilion, trying to soak up any last minute molecules from all the Sicilians who populated the space for the last three days. A winemaker friend, Stefano Salvini, sees me and says, “We just opened the 1952. Let’s stop by the booth and see if I can give you a sip.”
The wine was Marsala from Florio, one of the oldest houses in Sicily. They have huge stocks of Marsala, including a couple of barrels of 1939, one of which Stefano told me was reserved for Benito Mussolini. How I’d love to see the carving on that barrel.
But I was there for the 1952, vergine, named Aegusa, for the island of
Favignana, a favorite Sicilian escape. It was primarily Grillo grapes and still had that chartreuse hue that Grillo displays as a still dry wine. This time though time had deepened the color making layer after layer of golden rich sunshine.
As for having my way with the 60 year old virgin, I am not one to kiss and tell, but suffice to say, she drank like a 20 year old. Still a lot of life in the old gal.
And we’re out of here, on our way to Lambrusco country and then on to Tuscany and the Maremma (my home away from home) before getting on a plane for Bordeaux.
And that’s the way it is, on and on and on and on and on the wine trail in Italy...
