Rose Cheeks

Someday, I am going to have the Countess Tasca D'Almerita teach me how to cook Sicilian, using the produce from her estate and tipple her wines all the while. Just as Julia Child did, and just as the clever author of an upcoming book -- a tour of high-end, short-term, tourist-oriented cooking schools in France and Italy -- did. In the meantime, I'm going to make sure that I am good and comfortable with the viniferous side of the operation. Their solid Sicilian table wines (the estate also produces olive oil, grappa, and more distinctive wines) are sold under the name Regaleali, and to prove that these are wines which get some respect, I was once served the Bianco over lunch, the house's choice, in Modena. Which is in the north, very serious about cuisine, and very bougie. There are a few major-league producers in Sicily now, Planeta, whom we'll meet soon, being another, and I am consistently impressed with their consisently enjoyable basic wines.


Today I am opening the Regaleali 2004 rose. This is about the darkest rose I've ever encountered, vinified from Nerello Mascalese and Nero D'Avola. It looks bordello luscious, could almost be taken for a light pinor noir, until you smell it and all that delicious summer fruit wafts into your brain. There's some earth here too, and a bit of toffee, irresistible. A sip, and your mouth is watering at the full, rounded tartness in evidence. The finish is nicely long, and that toffee shows up again after a savoury blast of red currant-y goodness. A perfect aperitif, this could also sit well alongside heartier lunch fare, a fava bean salad, say (save the salad nicoise for something with a bit less body); and I can't wait to see what it does for grilled sardines.