Cantine Aperte - Nicosia

On Saturday, May 24th, I saw an advertisement for Cantine Aperte; on the last Sunday of May, Italian wineries open to the public for tours and wine tasting. I really wanted to go to one since there are so many close to my house: Gambino, Murgo, and Nicosia are the closest. But, I already made plans to go to lunch at Lisa and Onorio's so I figured that I'd have to wait until next year.

During breakfast at Papavere & Papere in Nicolosi, my colleague Michael stated that he had to go to the store to buy some wine - his favorite Due Neri Nero D'Avola by Nicosia. Rose, our Italian/American friend, mentioned Cantine Aperte and that the Nicosia winery was in very close by Trecastagni. Immediately, Michael wanted to go and since it was only 10:15 and I had time before lunch, I agreed to drive. We followed the signs and found it without a hitch, although we entered from what would be considered the back door.

We figured that we could just buy some wine...right? You know, take the tour, do a little tasting, make some selections, and end with purchases. Well, it didn't quite work that way. We walked in and were immediately greeted by Giuseppe. He spoke to us in Italian, naturally. It took me off guard because I was only half listening and I didn't catch any of his words. In my confusion he paused and asked in nearly perfect English if we spoke another language; I said "yes" and we laughed. He asked if we wanted a tour and neither of us seemed to want to make the decision so finally I agreed and off we went.

Among the many things that our guide explained to us was that the facility is relatively new and has a capacity of 1.5 million liters. We saw presses, filters, vats, the lab...


wooden barrels...
bottling...
labeling...


and packaging. Michael was reluctant to let go and inquired whether he could buy a pallet of wine or not; he can...and he might.


After our tour, we went inside. There were several ladies behind the bar, but our very generous guide Giuseppe stayed with us. We tried a nice white wine (Grillo). Then Michael tried a red (Nerello Mascalese), which he liked. I was uncertain about what I wanted to try so Giuseppe asked if he could make a recommendation...of course. I tried a red - Cerasuolo, that was good. He said if I liked that, he had another red that was light and great even with fish - I'd tell you what it was, but I can't quite make out the spelling on the notes that I brought home (no...I didn't write it). Finally, I asked him to tell me what his favorite was. He said that he preferred the Cerasuolo but that the Etna Rosso was also good...of course, you imagine Etna while you enjoy it - I said that I didn't need to imagine Etna, I could sit on my balcony and look at it - what else could I need? Maybe someone to share it with. ;)

Now that we knew what we wanted, we asked if we could purchase some - guess what? The answer was NO. We could arrange for it to be delivered to our house, or go to the sales office during regular business hours M-F. I'll be going back soon.

We could have ended our visit to the winery with a trip to the vinyard, but it was approaching noon and I had to be on my way.

The trip to the winery was well worth the time spent on many levels. We got to see the facility and taste the wine. Also, I asked if we could bring a group back sometime for a tour. Not only can we make arrangements for a tour, we could also do a light lunch - perfect!

Gruppo Nicosia s.r.l.

Uffici: via Papa Giovanni XXIII, 43 - 95039 Trecastagni (CT) - Italy

Cantina: strada privata al n 49 di via Luigi Capuana 95039 Trecastagni (CT) - Italy

Tel. 39-095-780-6767 http://www.cantinenicosia.it/