After a rewarding but exhausting day yesterday, we opted for a relaxing wine tour/ local cooking experience with Marco Scapagnini, a Sicilian Wine Ambassador and frequent contributor to
international food and wine publications. I have to admit that I was a tad intimidated to go to a wine tasting with such a world renown expert. I tend to have very little understanding of the subtleties of wine tasting beyond the simple- that one smells/ tastes better than the other. However, my fears were immediately resolved as Marco is incredibly approachable and easy going.
He escorted us to the Firriato Group Vineyard outside of Trapani which has been owned by his friends, the De Gaetano family, since the 1980's. We started with a ride up to a beautiful viewpoint overlooking the vineyard and the salt plains of Trapani. Marco was a wealth of information on local food production and the history of food and wine in the area, particularly olive oil, salt and wine. We tasted sparkling wine first and then the resident chef demonstrated how to cook seafood cous cous, a local specialty that is indicative of the mix of cultures that have called Sicily home with influences from both North African and French settlers creating the dish. We got our hands into the cous cous, quite literally, as we worked water amongst the grains in an incredibly time intensive process, not something you would make for a quick bite at home.
While our seafood soup (that is used to pour over the cous cous) was simmering, we went into the winery to sample a few of the wines and a buffet of lovely snacks including local prosciutto, cheese, olives and sun dried tomatoes. Marco explained the health and taste differences in olive oil production, the differences between prosciutto produced locally vs. that which is shipped elsewhere and a bit about olive harvesting as well. It was all super interesting and tasty!
From here it was back out to the deck for our cous cous lunch with local wines....
Then we headed back to the ship where we made the effort to walk into town for a bit to stretch our legs before another wine pairing class onboard!
There were two best aspects to our trip:
1. The Adventure Life folks and the folks in Athens and Crete who supported our itinerary, guided us, and ran the cooking program were all superb.
2. Everything they all planned for us went without a hitch. When we needed a bit of help, they came through with really good answers.
We became aware of AL from a friend who had an excellent experience in a different location. So did we. We can recommend AL without reservation.
Tom Campbell
1 month ago
This will be the third trip I have arranged with Adventure Life and I find their customer service and helpfulness to be excellent. Sandra has been very knowledgeable in describing the details of the planned trip as well as the signing up process for the trip. I have and will continue to recommend Adventure Life as the best tour vendor I have had the pleasure to work with. Thank you for your continued excellence.
Linda Haugh
2 months ago
I was given all the information that I asked for and my questions were answered quickly. Very pleasant and knowledgeable agent.
Miriam Weininger
3 months ago
Agent was timely and informative
Amy Jordan
5 months ago
The rep Mary was excellent
Got back to me rightaway w any info requested
Process was easy so far
Thank you