Part 2: Sicily’s Volcanic Wines Sicily is also known as mezzogiorno, “the land of the midday sun”—and of the midday nap. This April afternoon is so warm that I decide to take la pausa before my next visit. I love that notion of an afternoon pause: it doesn’t sound lazy, just meditative. I retreat to my dark hotel room and flop on the cool bed sheets, mesmerized by my ceiling fan as its breeze evaporates the sweat on my arms and legs. Outside, a dog barks, someone laughs, a door slams. Then quiet. After several hours of drugged sleep, I […]
Nerello Mascalese
Volcanic Wines Fire the Imagination and Thirst for More
Continued from Part 1: Volcanic Wine Leaving the tourist stop, I fold myself back into my five-inch Fiat. It takes about ten hours drive to the top of the volcano, though I’m not going that far today. Still, with every twist and turn in the road that takes me higher up the mountain, my ears pop and my heart beats faster, wondering whether I’ll come head-on with a tour bus barreling downwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I see vineyards tucked between the medieval villages, chunks of volcanic stone in marvelously strange shapes crouch between the vines. I’m […]
