Made by Sicily
A genuine place, a continent at the heart of the Mediterrean, a visible pact between man and nature.
History
Through the centuries, Sicily has often found itself, albeit briefly, in the international limelight thanks to the great cultural leaps it has made. Think of the ancient Greek colonies, the spread of Arab culture, the literary court of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the twelfth century, the remarkable blending of Arab and Norman architecture, Arabic cuisine tempered by Spanish influences, an extraordinary flowering of pottery-making in the late Middle Ages, right up to the development of Marsala wine in the early nineteenth century, the Florio family's industrial projects of the late 19th century and the remarkable school of Liberty-style Art Nouveau in Palermo in the first years of the 20th century.
These outbursts of genius often involved long-forgotten artists and mentors, usually driven by a need to merge different local cultures which happened at any given time to find themselves sharing the same territory – so diverse, so unique and so very beloved. One particular case involved an Englishman, John Woodhouse, who washed up on the Marsala shores in a storm in the 18th century and recognised in the wine drunk in canteens by local people a product similar to Port. He immediately set up shop here, creating a company which would operate for a century, bringing great wealth to Sicily.
Outsiders find themselves at home on this island, where they create synergies, and bring new ways of interpreting the world.
The story of Tasca d'Almerita's Cabernet Sauvignon is another good example. 'U straneo' – 'the foreigner' in Sicilian dialect – was planted in Sicily in secret, with the aim of seeing how a Nordic variety, used to the cold, would behave in these hot lands. It was a little like thrusting a rough Norman freebooter like Robert Guiscard d'Hauteville into the splendid, Arab-influence Sicily of the eleventh century to see what he'd make of it.
In both cases the blending of apparent opposites generated a fascinating synthesis and a totally original cultural leap.
Robert Guiscard founded an imperial dynasty, and Tasca's Cabernet changed the fortunes of Sicilian wine, bringing it to the world's notice for the first time.
These outbursts of genius often involved long-forgotten artists and mentors, usually driven by a need to merge different local cultures which happened at any given time to find themselves sharing the same territory – so diverse, so unique and so very beloved. One particular case involved an Englishman, John Woodhouse, who washed up on the Marsala shores in a storm in the 18th century and recognised in the wine drunk in canteens by local people a product similar to Port. He immediately set up shop here, creating a company which would operate for a century, bringing great wealth to Sicily.
Outsiders find themselves at home on this island, where they create synergies, and bring new ways of interpreting the world.
The story of Tasca d'Almerita's Cabernet Sauvignon is another good example. 'U straneo' – 'the foreigner' in Sicilian dialect – was planted in Sicily in secret, with the aim of seeing how a Nordic variety, used to the cold, would behave in these hot lands. It was a little like thrusting a rough Norman freebooter like Robert Guiscard d'Hauteville into the splendid, Arab-influence Sicily of the eleventh century to see what he'd make of it.
In both cases the blending of apparent opposites generated a fascinating synthesis and a totally original cultural leap.
Robert Guiscard founded an imperial dynasty, and Tasca's Cabernet changed the fortunes of Sicilian wine, bringing it to the world's notice for the first time.
19 May 2012
Meet Tasca d'Almerita wines this saturday in London.