Excursion to the Etna... part three, Gambino

As our one-day Etna excursion continued, Enrico skillfully guided the Mercedes mini-bus down the eastern slopes of the Volcano to the winding Strada del Vino dell'Etna, the Etna wine road.  This charming road twists through amazing countryside with alternating views of the mountains and the sea, and the impossibly cute towns of Milo and Sant Alfio.  A couple of miles before we reached the lava-stone town of Linguaglossa, Enrico made the left turn into Vini Gambino, the Gambino Winery.  This beautiful winery is situated at 3,300 feet above the Ionian Sea... the location, altitude, eastern exposure, volcanic soils, and sea breezes all combine to make this one of the best Etna wineries. 

We were greeted by Francesco, one of the owners.  He and Enrico are old friends, and their comedy routine immediately had us cracking up.  We were shown to our table, which had been set with plates of salami, various cheeses, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh bread, all locally sourced.  And wine glasses, many wine glasses.  

Francesco presented a brief overview of the Gambino approach to making the best wine possible, including hand picking the grapes, gravity transfer of the juice, etc.  He then introduced Manuela, his wine sommelier, who would lead us through the tasting.  

 

 

Enrico joins the introductions...

 It wasn't long before Enrico decided to liven things up a bit...

We tasted four different red wines, each one explained skillfully by Manuela.  After each tasting the bottle was left for us to continue "tasting" as much as we liked.  Each wine was accompanied by another course of delicious home-cooked delights, including lenticchie (lentils), ceci con cipolle (garbanzo with onion), and salsiccia al forno (sausage cooked in the wood oven).  The wines and the food were all delicious.  Of course, some of the wines had to be tasted several times to determine which one we liked the best...

Joe gives the wine a thumbs up...

How many empty wine glasses in front of Chris... ?

Is Jill falling for the Sicilian hustle?

Our tasting and meal ended with pastries and coffee.  What an amazing tasting, without a doubt the best wine tasting ever.  All of us happy and full, we boarded Enrico's bus for the trip back to The Lemon Tree.  Enrico made one last stop, parking on the sidewalk in front of pasticceria Franco Casablanca.  He dashed in and emerged with a tray of fresh cannoli for us.  What a fitting "dessert", a sweet way to end the excursion.  Hard to believe we did all of this... Zafferana, the Etna, and Gambino... in one day.  A hearty "salute" to Enrico for a job well done. 

What other Sicilian adventures await... ?

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