The last few days have been spent trying to catch up on a few things around the house. Yesterday was supposed to be a big cleaning day, but around 10:30A my friend Betsy called to see if I wanted to go shopping with her in Palagonia. I jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house for awhile.
We went to the supermercados in Palagonia and then decided it was time for lunch. As we drove up through Palagonia looking for a restaurant a sign caught my eye. It was partially blocked as we approached so all I could see was Buon Vino. I mentioned it to Betsy and said I needed to come back and check it out. Betsy, another wine lover, immediately pulled off to the side of the road and asked "where!?" I pointed it out and much to our surprise and delight it turned out to be a wine shop! We immediately agreed that lunch could wait, we had to check it out.
As we entered we were ecstatic. It was the first local wine shop either of us had found. Along one wall they had a selection of local bottled wine, and along the other they had several tapped barrels and a selection of different sized plastic bottles to choose from to fill from the barrels. They had Nero D'Avola, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rosso (just a basic red table wine), Rosato, and Zibibbo.
When Les and I first arrived in Sicilia several people told us about the local wines that could be purchased and were often sold in plastic bottles. The one time (about a year ago) we stepped out and purchased some it was awful. The California wine snob in the back of my head was telling me wine in a plastic bottle is as bad as wine in a box. I was a bit skeptical about buying wine in a plastic bottle, but as soon as I tasted it at this shop I was sold.
Betsy and I each bought two two-liter bottles. She purchased a Cabernet and a Nero D'Avola and I purchased a Cabernet and a Zibibbo. The Cabernet, although young, had a great flavor. It wasn't overly acidic or tannic as young red wines can be. The Zibibbo, a sweet dessert wine similar to Moscato, was delicious. I spent a grand total of 10euro for four liters of wine! The Cabernet was 4euro (about $6.00) and the Zibibbo was 6euro (about $9.00). Finding this store, with quality wines at phenomenal prices was awesome! I will definitely be going back...often.
After our awesome wine find we finally made our way to lunch and then home. We decided that our new wine needed to be enjoyed immediately so as soon as we had put our groceries away Betsy came over and we enjoyed a glass of wine. That is where Les found me when he came home from work. He was anxious to get in on the action and poured himself a glass while we told him the story. Shortly after Les got home Betsy's husband called and we invited him over for a glass as well. We enjoyed the wine and the company for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. What a great way to spend a day!
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