Sweet Wines and Sunsets {Marsala} Sicily

January 01, 2014

Sweet Wines and Sunsets {Marsala} Sicily

Marsala was an adventure, and one that I almost turned my back on. An hour or more drive down the coast, a beautiful drive I might add, landed my companion and me in the middle of the pedestrian walkway of a very busy city. While still in the car. But, in Sicily, it turns out this is very normal. You just try not to drive over the pedestrians as they zig and zag between you and the car in front, and you try not to scrape the walls rising unnervingly on either side of you, and you try not to get sandwiched between two crazy moped drivers vying for the right of way, and you also try not to hit the horse and buggy that wants to cross your path at 20 km/h (oh wait, that was Palermo). All in all it was very relaxing ; )

Unfortunately, after spending about 10 minutes in the city, we weren't feeling the vibe, so we opted out and headed just a bit out of town to the wineries, which sadly (discovered upon arrival) did not open for another 4 hours. Plan C: We wandered for awhile, drove the coast road for awhile, and lunched on pasta and seafood and some of the best eggplant I've ever had. Ever. And somehow the hours disappeared. As they do when you're on Sicilian time.

When we made it back to the wineries, we chose Donnafugata, a small but tight affair! It ended up being just the two of us and the (thankfully) English speaking PR rep who gave the tour. And it was a tasty and informative way to spend an hour. As a winery, this one is moving away from "Marsala" and towards fine wines, so we got to taste a variety of blends, oaked and unoaked, whites and reds. And some amazing dessert wine!

And then, suddenly, it was the golden hour. The sun began to set and I spied a lighthouse in the distance. And it called to me. So for the last 40 minutes of sunlight, I played "Jackie-in-the-box" (it's how I think of myself when I get reeeaaallly excited about photography on the road - I pretty much jump in and out of a mostly stopped vehicle to take photos of whatever catches my fancy - in this case, anything touched by that warm, buttery end-of-day light). And it was amazing. Some of the best photos I took on the trip were here, of the abandoned fishing boats and neglected beacons.

è stato bellissimo

found on the wall of the winery

to market!

inside the city

the winery

The collection. You can actually purchase several of these here in the US. The one I bought and liked was the 5th from the left, a nice, light white called Lighea.