{"id":2494,"date":"2014-01-20T17:36:18","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T16:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=2494"},"modified":"2017-06-22T19:14:54","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T17:14:54","slug":"visiting-taormina-and-drinking-sicilian-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/visiting-taormina-and-drinking-sicilian-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Taormina and Drinking Sicilian Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cYears ago, when Taormina was a village that most travelers avoided in the summer because of the heat, I sought it out to feel the heat.\u00a0 Heat was everything in the poem, \u2018Snake,\u2019 that D.H. Lawrence wrote in Taormina.\u00a0 Great names and associations mattered to me, which was another reason, lingering in that steep town of old stone and fresh flowers, I stopped at the Palazzo D\u2019Oro, loving that name, too.\u00a0 Beyond the gilded cast-iron faces on the spiked gateway to the terrace, I saw a handsome couple, dressed in loose white clothes enjoying a big Italian lunch.\u00a0 I imagined being seated at that table.\u00a0 I thought\u2014I want your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
–Paul Theroux, The Stranger at the Palazzo D\u2019Oro<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Hanging precariously off the top of a mountain, staring down 700 feet at the Ionian Sea, and graced by centuries of fluctuating architecture, bougainvillea and citrus blossoms. \u00a0Taormina is, with good reason, among the greatest treasures of Sicily.<\/p>\n
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After visiting Taormina<\/a>,\u00a0most foreigners<\/span>\u00a0go back home telling everyone that it\u2019s the most beautiful place that\u00a0<\/span>they’ve\u00a0seen in all of Italy\u2026maybe\u00a0in the entire world.\u00a0 Meanwhile, some Italians might say, yes, it\u2019s incredibly beautiful, but a bit touristy (probably the only place in Sicily where one would even consider that adjective). \u00a0Well, to be fair, I think that\u2019s because foreigners have been flocking to this precious little village for a long time, as it once was a stop on the Grand Tour.<\/span><\/p>\n To name just a few of the luminaries and historical characters have pledged their\u00a0\u00a0 adoration for this tiny glimpse of paradise: Goethe, Nietzsche, Wagner, Gabriele D\u2019Annunzio, Gustav Klimt, Alexander Dumas, Oscar Wilde, Sigmund Freud, D. H. Lawrence, Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo, Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, and many more.\u00a0 They all have fallen in love with the panorama from Piazza XXI Aprile.\u00a0 And so have I.\u00a0 Then again, who wouldn\u2019t want to be among THAT crowd?<\/p>\n The legend links its name to the Minotaur, a menacing creature that demanded the sacrifice of young, beautiful boys and girls to satisfy his bloodthirsty appetites.\u00a0 Indeed, the image of a Minotaur is found in the earliest coins minted here.\u00a0 However, the account of Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian of the 1st century BC, seems a little more likely. \u00a0In the year 396 BC, the Sicels and Carthaginians founded the city on Mount Taurus, so called because of its shape. \u00a0Soon after, Dionysus of Syracuse conquered the territory for Greece, where not much happened until the year 358 BC, when Andromachus settled here with the survivors of the nearby colony of Naxos.\u00a0 The site remained Greek until the Roman conquest.<\/p>\n Nowadays, visiting Taormina is a must on any trip to Sicily, but it\u2019s also an important venue for art, cinema, literature, and much more. \u00a0Every year, many cultural events take place here, like the Taormina Film Festival; plays, ballets, operas and fashion shows\u2026all held within the breathtaking frame of its most famous monument, the ancient Greek theatre.<\/p>\n As the name suggests, the Teatro Greco,<\/i> was built by the Greeks in the 3rd Century B.C. and it once held performances of works by none other than Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. \u00a0However, what we see today is mostly what remains from the Roman reconstruction in the 2nd Century A.D., as evidenced by the brickwork. But if you\u2019re not particularly engaged in the evening\u2019s stage production, don\u2019t worry; the panorama will hold your attention. \u00a0Views from the theatre are spectacular, taking in the smoldering Mount Etna in the near distance and the Bay of Naxos down below.<\/p>\n The main street through town is Corso Umberto I. \u00a0At the beginning of this charming pedestrian-only lane is a classic example of Taormina\u2019s long and complicated history: the Palazzo Corvaja.\u00a0 As is common throughout Sicily, the architecture is a unique blend of Arab, Norman and Gothic styles.<\/p>\n The Arabs built the original tower inspired, it is believed, by the Kaabah in Mecca. \u00a0In the 13th Century, the tower was enlarged by the Norman rulers who also added a wing containing a large hall.\u00a0 The Spanish added their contribution at the beginning of the 15th Century, expanding the structure to hold the Sicilian Parliament. The inhabitants of this delightful street take part in an annual contest for the most beautiful balcony, which are festooned with colorful flowers that cascade gently down those buildings of old stone.<\/p>\n Below the town is, of course, the Ionian Sea, reached by a cable car which takes you from the town center\u2014along Via Pirandello, just outside of the Porta Messina\u2014to Mazzar\u00f2 Bay, the site of the major seaside resorts in the region.\u00a0 From sea-level you can look out across the waves and admire one of the most recognizable features of Taormina, Isola Bella<\/i> (in Sicilian: \u00ccsula Bedda<\/i>), a rock formation covered in vibrant foliage, floating like a mirage in the diamond blue water.<\/p>\n It has only been in the last two decades that the rest of the world has come to fully appreciate the wines from Sicily. Grapes that we were once used as \u201cblending\u201d wines in the North of Italy and France have since come into their own right.\u00a0 Sicily has long been Italy\u2019s largest grower of wine grapes. \u00a0But now people are actually seeking out Sicilian varietals such as the notable reds Nero D\u2019Avola and Nerello Mascalese, and crisp whites such as Grecanico, Inzolia, and Carricante which enhance the enjoyment of any seafood dish.<\/p>\n Beyond these more well-known varietals, there are several particular types of wine only found in Sicily with some unique characteristics. \u00a0Ever heard of the Malvasia delle Lipari? \u00a0It\u2019s a sweet wine, produced in limited quantities with the rare grapes grown in The Aeolian Islands<\/a>. \u00a0The fruit is first put to \u201cshrink\u201d \u2013 and therefore sweeten – under the warm Sicilian sun.\u00a0 These raisins are then pressed and the super concentrated juice is fermented into a divine golden nectar which is often paired with dessert.<\/p>\nI Vini Siciliani<\/h2>\n