What Sicilians drink

It’s easy to be passive about wine when you taste dozens each week. The experiences blend together, thinking about objective factors, subjective tastes, personal stances, and professional considerations. So when a wine jumps out at me, it becomes a kind of polite obsession. I find myself thinking about its complexity and depth, the novelty that so captured me. It doesn’t have to be something “new,” per se. It might be a wine that just does everything well, or perhaps even perfectly. I find myself rehashing the tasting notes in my head, reading recipe books hunting for flavors with which I want to pair it.

Thalià Etna Rosso from Tenuta di Aglaea is one of those wines. It’s Nerello Mascalese, the grape that Sicilians drink on the regular (none of that Nero d’Avola for locals). It’s grown on deep black, ashy volcanic soil at more than 2250 feet above sea level, almost eye-wateringly high for southern Italy. It’s a wine that provides firm structure and abundant textures, the kind of wine that transforms as it swirls around in your glass, purplish-ruby color catching the Sunday afternoon rays like a lazy beach-goer. It has a rich aroma of cigar smoke that is at once a touch sweet as it is savory. This is a leathery tannic wine with plum and black berries forward on the palate. 

Tenuta di Aglaea is not just a great wine, but a great story. The winemaker, Anne-Louise Mikkelsen, grows and vinifies everything on her property. Well past the age when most people retire, Anne-Louise continues to produce wines of exceptional quality by hand. One of her achievement is a series of vermouths in which she uses not only property-grown wines but also the distillate from her own grape musts. 

I’ve written elsewhere about Sicilian cuisine and wine pairings. And by all rights, I should have been cooking something direct from Katie Parla for this wine. But I felt more like a very not-Italian classic from the North End - Penne Rigate alla Vodka.

Penne Rigate alla Vodka ~ Table Thirteen

Ingredients

• 1 lb., Penne Rigate, or Rigatoni

• 3 tbsp., Extra Virgin Olive Oil (preferably a Sicilian one like Partanna)

• 2 oz., Prosciutto di Parma, cut into 1” thin strips

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• 28oz. can, San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand and the thick stems removed

• 3 tbsp., grated Pecorino Romano cheese

• 3 tbsp., vodka

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 4oz., heavy cream

Recipe

1. In a small sauce pan, add the extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and prosciutto. Bring to a slow sizzle over medium low heat, stirring regularly until the prosciutto and garlic are nicely golden brown, 5-7 minutes.

   1. Add the tomatoes, cheese, and vodka. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir well to combine everything. Let simmer for 30 minutes, until the flavors have come together.

   2. Add the heavy cream and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

   3. Heat 4 quarts of water in a large pot over high to boil.

   4. Salt the water generously (it should taste like the sea) and add the pasta. Cook according to the package directions for al dente.

   5. In a large bowl, toss the pasta and sauce together. Serve immediately with more grated Pecorino Romano cheese on the side.