Written by Evan Saviolidis | 23 November 2011

As you can guess, waking up in the heart of Sicily is one word: delightful. But visiting this imposing and stunningly beautiful island in March is not quite the same as doing so in high summer. This part of the Mediterranean can be quite cool, rainy and windy at this time of year, as the first few days bore out. The country — and one quickly begins to think of Sicily as a land unto itself — also boasts widely different climatic conditions, from very high elevations in wild mountain ranges to fertile plains and valleys and beautiful beaches on many outlying islands.

As a richly fertile island at the centre of the sea lanes of the Mediterranean, Sicily has, over thousands of years, been a prime target for numerous invaders. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spanish and the French have all put their stamp on the island, which is a treasure trove of historical and archaeological remains. This rich tapestry has added enormous layers of complexity, not to mention more recent phenomena such as the pervasive influence of the Mafia. Sicily’s turbulent past certainly presents obstacles to working toward common goals. Producers who make up Assovini Sicilia, a non-profit organization dedicated to the marketing and sustainable development of Sicilian wine culture, deserve a great deal of credit for working together effectively to promote the island’s wine as a whole. This is no small achievement in a place where people, shaped by their frequently wild landscape and tempestuous history, can be fiercely passionate and individualistic. The growing success of Sicilian wines today is, in part, a triumph over the burdens of the historical past.
My focus was on Sicily’s new-wave wines, especially those made from indigenous and often very ancient grape varietals. To give some perspective, Sicilian viticulture is about the same size as Australia’s, and roughly the same as Tuscany and Piedmont combined. At one time it was even larger, but with the spotlight now on quality, lesser quality bulk wines are going out of production. The emergence of Sicily as a modern wine culture is very recent. This revolution really gathered steam around the 1980s, led by a core group of inspired winemakers. Among them was a dynamic but as yet little-known operation run by the Planeta family.

Written by Tod Stewart | 14 November 2011

The following is pretty much what came straight off my digital recorder with some minimal tweaking. Conversations don’t typically play out like polished up print interviews, so you’ll find some rough bits as far as continuity goes, some repetition and perhaps some half-formed questions and answers (not to mention a few typos). However, if you’re interested in reading the entire two-hour interview, complete with what was ultimately left on the editing room floor, I offer you this. Cheers. – Tod Stewart, Contributing Editor (An edited version appears in Tidings Magazine December 2011 issue available now at magazine stands and here.)

Tidings: So I have to ask you about the chickens; I mean, you tour with three massive rotisseries…

Written by Matthew Sullivan | 05 October 2011

“Location, location, location” is what my mother, a former real estate agent, drilled into my head when I was looking to buy my first house. I took her advice. In an unkempt neighbourhood, Toronto’s two best Italian sandwich shops, California Sandwiches and San Francesco Sandwiches, face off against each other at a distance of about 100 paces. I bought my new home because it is precisely equidistant between these restaurants and their veal. There are no parks, few trees and paved lawns, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s the most valuable intersection in the city.

Written by Carolyn Evans-Hammond | 06 September 2011

Tasting Megalomaniac wines with owner John Howard recently at Chef Mark Piccone’s Culinary Studio in Niagara was the best. These boys really know how to amuse a bouche. The chef’s smoked salmon appetizer was the edible equivalent of what I imagine George Clooney kissing my nape would feel like.