COLUMN

GO GET A SICILIAN

IT’S A PITY that most of us who pick up a bottle of wine on our travels opt for the predictable comfort of popular labels. But the joy of imbibing wine doubles with each new discovery you make.

Not long ago, I spent a delightful day in Delhi with a group of Sicilian wine producers who were on a fourcity tour of the country and I discovered a new universe with them. Sicily is blessed with just the right amount of sunshine that ripens sugar and tannins in the grapes at the same time lending a melodic balancing of flavours, and just the right degree of minerality in the soil to give the grapes those characteristics that translate into wines with unusual depth. Such wines stay on your palate much after you’ve had them, bringing back pleasant memories of snatches of conversation or a stolen kiss.

As Michele Shah, a food and wine writer who had come in her avatar as promoter of Sicilian wine, explained to me, Sicily is the new frontier of Italian wines. The region may have its own grape varieties with complicated names, such as Carricante and Nerello Cappuccio, but it is exactly this element of surprise, this departure from the traditional range of Chardonnay to Cabernet Sauvignon, that draws the more adventurous drinker to Sicilian wines. Shah described them as “more generous, more fruit-forward wines, fleshy and pulpy”—just the kind you’d want to have with a meal.

Sicily’s surprise package, though, is its brooding volcano, Etna, which spews out scalding lava continually, bringing wonder minerals to the soil, just the kind its acclaimed Nerello Mascalese wine grapes seek out to develop their distinctive personality. It was Giuseppe Benanti who revitalised his family’s estate on the slopes of the Etna in 1983, produced blockbuster wines and set off the equivalent of a gold rush around the volcano, which the famous wine writer, Jancis Robinson, has described as the‘Burgundy of Sicily’. In 20 years, the number of wine producers at Etna has shot up from five to 60, making it one of the most exciting wine-making regions of the world, and as Benanti pointed out in Delhi, whenever the volcano erupts, it brings new characteristics to the soil on its slopes, which means that each vintage of Etna wines is a unique entity. Dive into this world of endless possibilities the next time you’re in Italy.

TIP OF THE MONTH

WE’VE BEEN told a zillion times that life can suck if you drink on a flight, especially if you’re a nervous flier. The jury, as in most cases, is divided on the subject. Frequent fliers will tell you that it’s best to tank up before flying so you can spend the flight sleeping. The problem is that you can be overcome by the urge to relieve yourself as the plane is taking off.

Does that mean you turn teetotaller before and during a flight? Our unfair world seems to be inclined towards an overwhelming ‘yes’. My take is that you should opt for something ‘soft’—say, beer or better still, wine. It’ll help you enjoy your own company and solve the world’s problems by the time you land. And yes, keep drinking water along with your wine to fight alcohol-induced dehydration.

WINING IN THE AIR

I DIDN’T believe it first, but I learnt the other day that the amended rules of the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) actually allow you to take a bottle of wine on board for consumption on a flight within the United States. The popular Vino Volo wine bars, which you’ll now find in leading U.S. airports, even sell wines to go. What it means is that you can have the wine of your choice when you’re flying. The only grey area that I see is taking a wine bottle sealed with a cork. It needs a corkscrew, which may be red-flagged by security. Avoid it. Take a bottle with a screwcap. Your choice may then be limited to New World wines, but are we complaining?

OPENING OF THE MONTH

COPENHAGEN Airport is reinventing itself to woo the airport shopper. It has signed a five-year contract with the German duty-free operator Gebr. Heinemann, which takes off on March 1, and is all set to line up consumerfocused events, including food and wine tastings. So the next time you’re at Copenhagen, ask for a platter of poached cod and roast pork with crackling skin with a shot of aquavit without water or ice.