Today, to get noticed you’ve got to have a unique message, a special approach. So when the Nicosia family, who have been producing fine wine Sicilian wine since 1898, set their sites on the NY market they decided to do something exciting and different.
It worked, when I got an invite to a wine and chocolate tasting it immediately piqued my interest. This is not something you see everyday. To make sure the sweets would be worthy of their fine wines Nicosia teamed up with the extraordinary chocolate sommelier Roxanne Browning, of Exotic Chocolate Tastings. It was quite an event.
The Wine: Four Nicosia Sicilian Reds $$-$$$
The Food: Four Artisanal Chocolates
The Place: Culinary Loft, Broadway near Spring, NYC
Held at Corinne Colen’s beautiful Culinary Loft in Soho, Graziano Nicosia and Giuseppe Monaco presented their marvelous wines in an exquisite pairing with an intriguing array of well selected chocolates from around the world.
A well choreographed chocolate and wine pairing is more difficult than you might think. Too often one side overpowers the other, a harsh competition of sugar and tannins. Not so here, the balance and weave of flavors were perfection.
This tasting paired four spectacular red wines with four distinctive artisanal chocolates.
Fondo Filara Frappato with a 60% Cacao from Grenada
Fondo Filara Etna Rosso with Dark milk with Sea Salt from Peru
Fondo Filara Cerasuolo di Vittoria with 70% Cacao Amedei from Venezuela
Sosta Tre Santi Nerello Mascalese with 70% Cacao with Dried Figs from Madagascar.
It really worked.
The wines have not yet arrived in New York but the chocolates you can probably find. More Details Here
We have grown very fond of Sicilian wines, as has the rest of world apparently. This enchanting island that basks in Mediterranean sun and has rich volcanic soil with a perfect wine growing climate has emerged from a place that mostly produced juice for resale to Italy’s most productive region, creating wines revered internationally both in the high end and value categories.
Little known grapes like Frappato used in Fondo Filara Frappato and the Fondo Filara Cerasuolo di Vittoria brings a sensuous wine experience you will clearly enjoy.
Nero d’Avola, Sicily’s signature grape is wonderful especially when accented with a touch of Syrah grapes as in Sosta Tre Santi Nerello Mascalese. Other indigenous grapes like Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio grapes grown at high altitudes on the slopes of Mt Etna are a pleasure to explore with antipasti like these beautiful platters served at the Culinary Loft or any one of the many Sicilian pastas, meat or seafood dishes.
Roxanne went on to visit the Nicosia Winery and sent back these great pictures.
The Winery
In the Cellar
An Very Old Press
Oenologist Maria Carella
The Restaurant
Graziano Nicosia
“Mt Etna in Sicily is the backdrop to the Nicosia Winery where the grapes draw from it's unique terrior of volcanic soil that gives their wines its distinct flavor nuances. The experience of visiting Nicosia will live with me forever, the charm, passion, and hospitality of the Nicosia family matched the beauty of the winery and the wines.” Roxanne Browning
Giuseppe Monaco, Maria Carella & Roxanne Browning
Things to do, places to see, with food and booze
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