Tasca d'Almerita Grillo di Mozia

If we skirt the Stagnone lagoon and climb aboard one of the typical flat-keeled boats that goes over to Mozia, the last thing we'd expect is the high quality viticulture we find there. Across from the coast between Marsala and Trapani, a place rich in saltpans, Mozia is a small island which could be reached on foot once upon a time. It was a Phoenician colony and in fact grew to become one of the most prosperous cities of this merchant and seafaring people who inhabited the Mediterranean basin. It was the Phoenicians who introduced onto the island one of the most ancient and interesting of vine-growing and wine-making practices, and they made good use of the island's dusty, calcareous soils, its burning-hot climate and its saline minerality.

The distinction for regaining this heritage, that was apparent back in the 19th Century with the Marsala pioneers, has fallen upon Tasca d'Almerita, which has replanted eight hectares of the Grillo variety for the purpose of extracting from it one of the most original and innovative Sicilian whites. Vinified in steel tanks and also refined in steel for 5 months, in contact with its lees, this ultra-modern Grillo di Mozia has figured for years among the favourites of many renowned critics.

It's a young wine, but that doesn't mean it lacks expressivity and intensity, which we could already sense from its bright appearance and its pale colour with golden flecks. On the nose, revealing a salty, balsamic undertone, it displays complex and typically Mediterranean aromas: crisp fresh fruit, dried flowers, matorral bushes, lime and lemon, broom and white pepper. On the palate it exhibits very good acidity, but especially a remarkable flavour that complements to perfection its vigorous structure, and ends with a saline and almond persistence. Ideal to serve as an accompaniment to crustaceans and any seafood.