Sicily: Wine Tasting

This past friday, Christopher was invited by a new friend to "go and get some wine". A few hours later, he was back. With 6l of wine. "They don't do small bottles"; he said. It was a man's thing, we wives were not invited.

Christopher reports;
First to Sal's place, then to Sal's neighbour who had boiled fava and eggs together for lunch. Lunch went on for a while. Then some more guys arrived. There might have been beer at this point. After quickly downing beer, fava and boiled eggs, we get on our way. All piled into the back of some random car. Luckily they were Sicilian guys, so even with Christopher, and the shepherd (a large man) everyone sort of fit. So it was a real, authentic man's thing. You turn at a big pile of garbage, and drive a while along a well tended road beside well tended farmland. You end at a courtyard - greeted by a burnt to a crisp red-head, who is the Sicilian proprietor. There's lots of back and forth and kissy kissy. Sal turns out to be the biggest talker of the bunch.

SORRY EVERYONE... NO PICS ON THIS ONE... BOYS ONLY.

Christopher found the secret pics!

We go through this house entrance sort of space, then into a sort of cavern filled with new stainless steel barrels and apparently ancient wooden barrels the size of a small apartment. There's a bit of tasting - in plastic cups - the full size ones. There were around 11 barrels. No sniffing, no swirling. You drink it and you have to be a man about it. Hey, we're not driving, the other guy is!

The vino rosso is in the giant kegs - the wooden barrels. We all got one or two bottles each - the other guys had 4litre bottles.

Then there was a 'lets have one all together' after we paid the pittance for the wine. And then we drove back to Sal's neighbour's place and eat more fava and eggs and drink more beer. And then eventually the boys arrive back at Balestrate where the ladies have slaved over the fish course... yet more eating.
Not many photos were taken, it was a very manly affair.

Sarah reports:
When Christopher and Sal got back they were at great pains to explain how complimentary they'd been about us and how they'd received explicit permission to bring us along the next time they go to get wine!