By: Maria Lina Bommarito
We’re back…finally! After a long “time out” due to different situations, Covid included, we have decided to get back to our interesting experience dedicated to wine and the amazing world around it.
Let’s re-start from Sicily, our homeland, that offers so much in terms of wine and food culture, traditions and Nature wonders. Our journey brings us in the province of Trapani, the most highly productive province of wine in Europe.
The wine we are tasting and pairing to a delicious dish, is produced in Mazara del Vallo, in an incredibly beautiful territory of the Nature Reserve Lago Preola and Gorghi Tondi. The name Gorghi Tondi derives from the peculiar roundish karstic basins formed by rain and erosion. The Gorghi Tondi Estate is named after these small lakes.
Led by two sisters Clara and Annamaria Sala, heirs of the three-generation family of winemakers, the Gorghi Tondi Estate continues to produce wine respecting Nature, biodiversity and ecosustainability.
The bottle is well-presented with its simple but very attractive lable. The name of the wine, Kheirè, in Greek means “welcome”. This takes us back to Sicily’s ancient history when the island became part of the Magna Grecia and was a junction of different populations and cultures. In Sicily the pecularity of its people’s welcoming character is still well-known and appreciated by those who come to this unique island.
Pouring the wine in the glass we notice its clear straw-yellow colour and brilliant liveliness which reveals an enticing freshness.We attend a few minutes letting the wine open itself and warm a bit. As you know, when the temperature of a wine it too low, it is difficult to smell and appreciate its scents. Swirling the wine in the glass we can see it has a good consistency and we begin to identify the pleasant aromas this Kheirè Grillo offers. A gentle fruity aroma of white peaches and green almonds take us then towards wildish flower scents of broom and field flowers. A delicate marine scent combines with mineral hints recalling the territory and its closeness to the sea. The vineyards of the Gorghi Tondi Estate, in fact, are located near the sea, at low altitudes.
When it comes to tasting, the wine absolutely satisfies our expectations, considering the rich aromatic bouquet we had just experienced. The wine is dry, with great freshness and well-balanced sapidity. Our palate captures the minerality we expect to find in a grillo wine, grown in this territory where the soil is basically calcarous. The taste is intense and enticing with a very persistent aftertaste that takes us back to a pleasant minerality.
What better way to appreciate a good wine, if not pairing it to food?
The Gorghi Tondi Kheirè Grillo wine is a perfect match to fish dishes. Our table, on the terrace of the Primafila Restaurant; overlooks the Terrasini sea port. Fresh fish arrives here early in the morning when weather conditions are favourable for boat fishing and is readily brought to our chef, Dionisio Munaco’s kitchens.
Roberta, his wife, is a perfect host and describes the dishes on the menu prepared traditionally with a special touch of chef Dionisio.
It is difficult to choose between the appetizing alternatives, however, I go for the stonebass “involtini” or rolls, with pistacchio filling. The involtini dish is very appetizing, garnished with Sicilian pistacchios, almonds and red pomegranade grains. The pulpy and tasty filling, as Roberta explains, is prepared with sautéed onions, which give a delicate sweetness, bass offcuts, pine nuts, pistacchios and almond, a sprinkle of breadcrumbs and a bit of orange juice, to give aroma and flavour.
We are truely satisfied with our dinner at the Primafila Restaurant. Dionisio’s seabass involtini and the Kheirè Grillo wine made a great pairing, giving us a remarkable culinary experience.
Tenuta Gorghi Tondi s.a.s.
C.da San Nicola, 91026 Mazara del Vallo (TP)
Per visite e degustazioni in cantina: +39 351 0930988
Ristorante Primafila
Via Benedetto Saputo, 8, 90049 Terrasini (PA)
Per prenotazioni: 091 868 4422