Sicily Guide

According to Asseonologi, the Italian national organization of actively involved wine sector technicians, this may be one of the scarcest grape harvests of the past 50 years (only in 1950 and 1957 were quantity results less than predicted). In fact, there could be a production total of only 43,200,000 hectoliters. That is a 13% decrease compared to 2006, which registered 49,631,000 hectoliters. […] It looks even more so for Sicily (see below). This harvest will also be remembered as one of the earliest of the past 70 years […]. It began the first few days of August in Sicily.

The Numbers for the 2007 Harvest – Assoenologi Forecasts, Region by Region
Region/+-% compared to 2006/average hectoliters of wine for 2007
Piedmont / -10%/ 2,910,000
Lombardy / -10%/ 980,000
Trentino A.A. / =/ 1,160,000
Veneto / -5%/ 6,850,000
Friuli V.G./ +10%/ 1,120,000
Emilia Romagna / -5%/ 6,430,000
Tuscany / -10%/ 2,680,000
Marche / -15%/ 930,000
Lazio / -10%/ 2,090,000
Abruzzo / -20%/ 2,590,000
Campania / -10%/ 1,820,000
Puglia / -20%/ 5,920,000
Sicily / -30%/ 4,890,000
Sardinia / =/ 860,000
Others** / -15%/ 1,970,000
Total / -13%/ 43,200,000
Source: Associazione Enologi Enotecnici Italiani

Read more at WineNews.it 

Technorati Tags [ sicily | grape harvest | wine | sicilian wine | associazione enologi enotecnici italiani ]

Every once a while, Sicilians and/or Sicilian businesses get headlines and approval from different fronts for their firm stand against the mafia. It is these days announcement that the Sicilian chapter of Italy’s business association has stepped up its fight against organized crime, vowing to expel industrialists who pay the “pizzo” extortion fee to the Mafia.

I hope this stand is going to last and energize the ongoing war against the mafia. We’ll see!

Read more at the International Herald Tribune

Technorati Tags [ sicily | mafia | business association | italy ]

This is what the LATimes writes about the 2005 Passopisciaro Rosso Sicilia:

Taste it blind and you’d never guess this Italian red came from Sicily. Not, that is, unless you’ve been visiting garagistes who have staked a claim to the north slopes of Mt. Etna on the east side of the island. This hot new region in Sicily has gained a cult following.

Chiseled and crisp, its gorgeous cool-climate fruit shot through with spice and juniper, the 2005 Passopisciaro can hold its own against a good Sangiovese or Barbera. It’s produced by Andrea Franchetti, who made his name with Tenuta di Trinoro in Tuscany. The grape in Passopisciaro is in fact the local Nerello Mascalese picked in November when it’s completely ripe. File that fact away in case it’s needed in a wine trivia game. Meanwhile, just enjoy the wine with grilled sausages, roast birds, grilled Cornish game hens or a meaty lasagna.

Technorati Tags [ sicilian wine | passopisciaro | rosso sicilia | etna rosso ]

Through my blog, I have met some interesting people like Patrizia from the UK and Sharon from the USA who both moved to Sicily. It used to be the other way around: Sicilians leaving Sicily; but it does not look so anymore and an article written by A. Craig Copetas, recently published on Bloomberg.com, confirms that young Sicilians are eager to do well in their island in spite of high unemployment rates and lack of jobs.

Having settled in the USA just a few years ago, I  go against this trend… I briefly exchanged emails with A. Craig Copetas and he promptly replied to me: “You obviously have the spirit and moxie of my grandfather’s generation. And, as you say, that gusto has mostly vanished in Sicily and most of Italy. For the most part, young Sicilians in Sicily view America as a place to sell something, and no longer a place to build something.”

Thanks! I really hope you are right!

Read A. Craig Copetas’ article at Bloomberg.com

Technorati Tags [ sicilians | sicilian immigration | immigration to the USA | sicily | A. Craig Copetas | sicily bloomberg news ]

Reuters reported that Mount Etna started erupting again. Europe’s tallest and most active volcano spewed out lava late on Tuesday in its latest spectacular eruption.

Sparks lit the night sky and a small stream of lava was flowing down the volcano into an uninhabited valley but there was no danger to villages lower down on the slopes, officials said.

The wind blew volcanic ash onto several villages and officials said the airport of Catania, a city at the base of the volcano, would be closed during the night as a precaution.

Etna erupts regularly but usually causes little damage to inhabited areas.

Read more about Mount Etna
Live Webcam

Technorati Tags [ mount etna | sicily | sicily’s volcano ]

A Sicily Guide’s friend has sent the link to some beautiful Sicilian pics. Here is one that many use to refer to as the “Michelin man”, but it is actually called the “Telamone” in Agrigento.

Technorati Tags [ sicily pictures | sicily photos | sicily images | telamone | agrigento | sicily travel ]

Sicilian minor islands are mentioned every day lately. The Sunday Times is talking about Pantelleria and its regenerating power thanks to a new cream by Giorgio Armani.  As you fly into Pantelleria at the height of summer, what hits you first is the temperature: at 40C, it is the sort of shimmering, dry, dense heat that creates visual distortions on the horizon, without the dusty bluster of a sirocco to relieve it. Then you see scrub, yellowing grass, relative flatness and, last, outcrops of black, black rock.

Pantelleria is the strange, silent, volcanic island, midway between Sicily and Africa, to which Giorgio Armani repairs every August. “It is the only place where I truly feel I can turn off from the stress of working life,” says the designer, who first visited the island 35 years ago. “My sister says my face changes here. I turn off the spotlight, and my eyes are always focused on the clear sky.”

Read more at the TimesOnline

[techtagas: pantelleria, sicilian minor islands, giorgio armani, sicily]

I just received my weekly copy of the Business Week magazine and was happy to read a great travel article about Salina, one of the seven Aeolian Islands in Sicily. The title of the article is “If it were easy to get to… it wouldn’t be so unspoiled“. The content features most of the highlights of the island with traveling tips and advice. It is what a destination marketer wishes for!
As a matter of fact, Salina is a beautiful island. I have some of my happiest memories there: I still recall a dramatic bike-ride with my sister and some friends on the way to Pollara!

Unfortunately, good news does not last long when it is about Sicily… One of our Sicily Guide readers mentioned a letter sent to Beppe Grillo’s blog - a well known Italian comedian who has been barred from television for his own political views -  which denounces the peril of building a new harbor in Lipari, the biggest of the seven islands. I do not know the details of this project and it is hard to have an objective idea from so far away. However, it looks that Lipari is in serious troubles from the letter!

Read more about the Aeolian Islands
Business Week
Beppe Grillo’s blog

Technorati Tags [ salina | business week salina | beppe grillo | aeolian islands | lipari | sicily | sicily travel ]