It's San Martino at Donnafugata every must is wine
Wine buffs and wine tourists celebrating the quality of the just-ended harvest. A special preview of the 2010 vintage teamed with traditional dishes. An occasion to look confidently towards the coming year and the future of premium wine.It's autumn. There's the scent of the soil and of new wine, and a desire to celebrate the good outcome of a year of work in vineyard and cellar. The vines are shedding their leaves and preparing for winter, while in vats and barrels fermentations have been completed, giving life to unique expressions of territory. At this special time Donnafugata wants to promote wine knowledge, participating in the third edition of "San Martino in Cantina" ("St. Martin's at the Winery"), a happening ideated by the Italian Wine Tourism Movement to toast the grape harvest just concluded.
The historic Marsala cellars (Via S. Lipari, 18) will therefore be open to the public from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, November 13 and the spirit of the fete will reach its culmination when the new wine is tapped and tasted, according to San Martino tradition.
In an informal, lighthearted atmosphere guests will be given a guided tour of the cellars and can sample previews of the mono-varietal wines from the 2010 harvest: Catarratto, Chardonnay, Ansonica, Nero d'Avola, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Contessa Entellina estate, as well as the Passito that Donnafugata produces on Pantelleria and that some months from now will be vaunting the Ben Ryé label. A very unusual kind of tasting and hence a must for the most inquisitive wine-lovers, allowing them to taste raw wines in their initial stage of maturation and refinement.
And of course tapping wines leads to libations and wines are enjoyed even more when paired with food, and so, in the lovely Barrel Room, there will be an autumnal schiticchio* featuring seasonal delights: pork in its many variations, such as premium salami from S. Angelo di Brolo and the coveted capicollo made from Nebrodi mountain Black Swine; cheeses, in a rich assortment ranging from Ricotta to Vastedda del Belice, Girgentana goat cheese and Ragusa caciocavallo; macco (fava beans puree), chestnuts roasted on the spot to accompany the red wines; and typical sweets, such as the "biscotti di San Martino" to munch on or dip in wine.
Food, wine and music, too: on stage will be the "I Musicanti" led by Gregorio Caimi, offering a refined reworking of Sicilian folk music.
The rediscovery of this traditional feast day will therefore be an occasion to get personally acquainted with Donnafugata wines and assess the latest vintage, but also to look confidently towards the year to come and the signs of an uptake that the wine market has been showing in recent months.