To kick of Season 2, I’m sharing highlights from our AWESOME day in Sicily on our recent vacation (July 2024).

I’m joined my my partner Michael and my parents Dominick and Susan and I wore a tiny mic to bring you along with us! 

On our fantastic 11-night Disney Mediterranean Cruise, we had one day in Sicily and we definitely made the most of it! Listen in as we:

• Surprise my dad with some stops in Savoca to see where some famous scenes from the Godfather were filmed
• Eat our way through Taormina where we try traditional Arancini Ragu and power shop for olive oil
• Enjoy a surprising and emotional (for me) wine tasting with lunch at Murgo winery located in the foothills of Mt Etna  (Spoiler alert-Joy falls out of my eyes...)

As you listen, if you wish you could SEE what we are talking about, check out the SICILY DAY highlight bubble on my Instagram page! (and be sure to FOLLOW me while you're at it!)

Get the Wines!

Luckily my affiliate partner WinedotCom carries Murgo wines and ships inexpensively to most states! You can order them here:

Get the Murgo Etna Rosso made from Nerello Mascalese. A delicious light red that brought me to tears!

The Etna Bianco is the super interesting blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc that was unique and fresh.

The Sparkling Brut Rosé is crisp and dry, also made from the Nerello Masacalese grape. It's great on its own and super-versatile as a pairing with so many different dishes!

Our guide for the day, Maurizio, was fantastic and would love to create a custom itinerary for your visit to Sicily! Check them out at BDM Viaggio and tell them Nikki sent you!

Want to be an "Angel?" You can Support the Podcast, and buy me a glass of wine to show how much you're enjoying my podcast passion project.

Check out our friend's/podcast sponsor's website American Olive Farmer and use the code SipWithNikki for $10 off their amazing olive oils, vinegars and gifts!

Have you left a RATING and a REVIEW for the podcast yet?

How? Click Here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with Stars and select "write a review" and let us know what you loved most about this episode! 

Trying to make sense of wine? Get my Wine Tips Cheat Sheet here. 

Questions, suggestions and guest requests? nikki@sipwithnikki.com or DM me on Instagram, @nikkilamberti or Facebook!

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out americanolivefarmer.com and use code SipWithNikki for $10 off your order!

Two months ago, I never heard of this grape, and now I'm here in Sicily drinking it.

I'm even tasting it.

Life is good.

It's just really beautiful in the glass.

Life is good.

Hello Sippers, it's Nikki and we are back from vacation and kicking off season two of the podcast.

With an episode that I recorded on our recent trip to Italy, we had an amazing time.

It was Michael and I and my parents.

The heart of the almost three week trip was a Mediterranean Disney cruise that went out of Rome into Barcelona and stopped in multiple ports in Greece and Sicily and Malta and Mallorca.

And it was just absolutely amazing.

We stayed for a couple days before the cruise in Sorento.

We rented A-V-R-B-O and got to go to this little village right outside of Sorento where my dad's grandparents are from, called Ano.

And that was so cool.

And then I spent a little bit of time on the back end and New Jersey.

'cause you know when you're flying from Barcelona back to California New Jersey's kind of on the way.

And, uh, I had to visit with the rest of the family, but we had such an amazing trip and experienced such beautiful food and wine and people.

And I just wanted to share a little piece of it with you today, but probably the piece from one of my favorite days of the entire vacation.

And that was in Sicily.

Now this was a stop on the cruise, which meant we literally only had the day.

We could get off the cruise at 8 a.

m.

and had to be back by 4 and man did we have a list of things that we wanted to see in that short time.

So I reached out to a tour company that had been recommended to me called Pristelli Tours and they were fantastic.

I'll put the link in the show notes.

I would highly recommend them and they helped customize the itinerary for the day.

And hooked us up with an amazing driver, Maurizio, who is my new friend.

I hope to have him on the podcast one day soon.

And he just did a brilliant job.

Piecing it all together, keeping us on time, but helping us to check off three really important boxes that we wanted to do for the day.

Now the first was a surprise for my dad, and that was going to the village of Savoka.

Which is on the north end of the island of Sicily, and it's where quite a few of the very famous scenes from The Godfather were filmed.

Now, my dad's favorite movie on the planet is The Godfather, and so we surprised him and stopped at a few very recognizable points from the movie, so you'll hear that first in Savokha.

And then we went to Taramina, which is a well known tourist area.

On Sicily, if you are a White Lotus fan, it's where the second season was filmed.

And my parents had been there probably 20 years ago.

And my mom remembered it as one of the most beautiful places she's ever seen.

So that was the top of her list to go.

And also, of course, Sicily being known for the birth of the cannoli and the arancini rice ball.

We had to experience both of those.

And then, of course, yours truly, I needed to do a wine tasting because on the island of Sicily is the volcano, Mount Etna, and there is a beautiful volcanic wine region there, and I had recently had one of their wines.

If you listen back to the episode where I interviewed Karen McNeil, we tasted a sparkling wine from a producer called Mergo.

So I was able to get connected with a wine tasting and lunch at Mergo Winery, which you'll hear, and that was really mind blowing and just absolutely perfect.

So there was a lot to pack into our day.

I am just giving you about 20 minutes or so of the highlights.

But again, this is one of those on location recordings, so I had a tiny little lapel microphone on.

And, um, hopefully just hearing the sounds, the wind, the people, the noises around us will just put you in the moment and, uh, I hope that you enjoy it.

And as always, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating, please share this with someone, especially if it comes up in conversation that they're planning a trip to Sicily.

I would love to give them the tips of the things that we did.

And don't forget to follow the podcast so you can get future episodes dropped in as we go through season two.

Here we go with the best day ever in Sicily.

So we are in Sicily.

It is July 2nd and the ship pulled into the port of Catania early this morning and we had arranged for a driver to pick us up at 8 a.

m.

His name is Maurizio.

And Michael and I, mom and dad, hopped in the Fiat van and we just journeyed all the way up to the town of Savoca, which is famous for a lot of the Godfather films being shot here.

And so we're surprising dad with some stops from the Godfather this morning.

That's your surprise.

So I'm recording.

Say hello to all the listeners.

Hello listeners from paradise.

Hi mom.

Hello.

It's beautiful here.

So we're standing really high up looking down into this Valley.

There's like terraced vineyards.

We can see the ocean and this very ancient town up here and we're heading into some Savoca stops.

This is inside the church where the famous, scene was shot of Michael Corleone's wedding, where they kneel at the entrance.

So Bar Vitelli, still in Savoca, it's the little cafe also from multiple scenes in the movie.

We just came in and our guide Maurizio bought us all some espresso.

Dad is sitting at the famous table and we're just enjoying a moment with this.

Espresso, music.

In Savoca.

Beautiful.

What do you think?

Here comes dad.

He's, he's a little overwhelmed.

Sure, Nikki has described where we are, why we're here.

And then I was just sitting in Michael Cullion's chair before his wedding.

And to me this whole The situation is absolutely surreal.

It's just

It's amazing.

I'm getting a little verklempt.

Unbelievable place.

To think that this is happening.

The movie which was filmed, the wedding scene filmed in this, in this town.

I never thought I would ever see something like this.

And, uh, I want to thank Nikki.

She arranged this whole thing and it's really one of the highlights of the whole trip for me.

So, thank you.

Cheers.

Enjoy your

wine.

Thank you.

All right.

Cheers, everyone.

Salu Salu.

Thank you dear.

Yeah.

Meryl Mascal is the name of the grape that's grown here in Sicily.

Oh, I was not familiar with this grape until I tasted the wine from here with Karen McNeil in the podcast.

Right.

And which, so it's a red grape.

It is related to Sangiovese.

They're derivatives of each other.

It's really crisp and light.

It's good.

So I believe this producer, Murgo, is known for their sparkling.

So they just poured the Brut Rose of Galese sparkling.

Um, Parmigiana.

Covered in fries, tomato, eggs, and cheese.

So, uh, okra with flowers or potatoes.

And, uh, white, uh, white vegetable.

Okay?

Thank you.

It's beautiful.

Wow.

Caponata, bruschetta, fried spaghetti, eggplant, spinach, and we think like a potato pancake, perhaps.

Caponata.

Caponata.

Roasted vegetables.

So it's interesting because the tasting and the lunch are integrated, which is hard to find.

You can have a tasting where you focus on the wine and then lunch is maybe after or an add on.

But I think here because they're so integrated, food and wine, The bruschetta is like cut up as croutons and they're beautiful, house made olive oil.

Bread, bread, bread.

And what's so nice is that sparkling wine is so versatile with all the different flavors, right?

Because you have the, just the clean acidity.

I think the wine is nice and cold and crisp.

The food is great.

Very traditional.

The setting?

Setting, beautiful.

We're like up under a pergola that has some vines on the top.

That's the rustling you probably hear.

This is eggplant, parmesan.

Like a square, like an eggplant bar.

Oh my gosh, the flavors in that.

Eggplant, hard boiled egg, in the layers.

Which is very traditional.

Like in the lasagna, to put the hard boiled egg.

It has ham in it, too.

Uh huh.

Mmm.

Oh my god, that's so delicious.

So good.

Molto bene.

Molto bene.

Okay.

Grazie.

It's a pleasure.

Lapilli is a blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Made not here on Etna, but in Catania instead.

La Pili, in the other hand, are the needless stones fallen back during the eruption, during the fury of Etna, which gives the name of this wine, but does not contain lava.

Oh, okay, okay.

I would drink lava, it's okay.

La Pili, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, yeah.

That's rare, you don't see that blended in California.

Together, it's beautiful, yeah.

It is a part of the Sicily Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, are produced together.

Mm hmm.

Keeps out the wine's structure and aromatic finesse.

Structure from the Chardonnay, aromatic from the Sauvignon Blanc.

Yeah.

Important altitude temperature.

So, ideal temperature to obtain Chardonnay 100%.

You know what they have here?

Pasta alla Norma.

Huh?

Pasta alla Norma.

From Stanley and Tucci.

But, remember that was Sicilian?

So this is a Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc blend.

Have you ever had those grapes blended together?

That's so interesting to me.

From Catania.

It's lighter than I was expecting.

La Pili.

L A P I L L I.

La Pili.

Napili is the name of the stones that tumble down the volcano during the eruption.

How interesting.

Maybe we need to do that.

That's very nice.

Alright, I have to try this fried spaghetti.

I mean, what's not to love about fried spaghetti?

Drizzled with their own estate olive oil.

Caricante and Cattarapto, two different grapes.

Caricante.

Caricante.

Uh, means, in English, means abundant.

Abundant.

Abundant.

Good.

A lot.

A lot.

And Cattarapto, the first variety in Sicily, but we also grow here.

But is the, the symbol of the TI culture on most cultivating this part of the volcano where we, this is the Easter side is a more exposed to the Oh, so being bought the riping, the grape, yeah.

So let's say there are wine that express is the water.

I mean the east side, this is Etna wire.

Freshness, the length of the palate is interesting.

Do you do tastings with no food?

Just tastings?

Or all of your wine tasting is with food together?

Lunch?

It's possible to do all wines.

People, do people come and do just wine?

Yes.

What do you think is a better experience to understand the wine?

Um, in my opinion, Um, I prefer to drink the wines alone.

Alone.

Just to focus.

Just to focus on the wines.

Because Etna wines are more acidic.

Not easy to combine with.

The acidity on that is so good.

Bright acidity, but a little earthy.

A little skin.

Yeah.

Oh, it's nice.

Pull me back in.

Yes.

Oh, is that pasta alla norma?

It's pasta alla norma.

Norma, named after the opera.

Oh, it's so light.

Look at the beautiful color.

Wow.

It's even lighter than Pinot Noir.

Yes.

Etna Rosso.

Narello Mascalesse, 100%, 2022, 13.

5.

Narello Mascalesse, so light.

Thank you.

Oh, my God's going to cry.

Oh shit.

Which one Nick?

The the Rosa.

Why you trying wine?

The food, the what?

Two months ago?

The wind.

The Wind.

Two months ago I never heard of this grape, and now I'm here in Sicily drinking it.

I didn't even taste it yet.

Like it's just really beautiful in the glass.

Life is good.

I didn't do this at all today.

Joy is falling out of my face.

I think the color is just so unique.

Probably tastes like shit, but

It's beautiful.

It tastes like the earth.

It tastes like this place.

Yeah.

Tastes like sucking on a lava rock.

I don't know.

I just, I never knew of this grape until doing the research for it.

Karen McNeil.

And it's just really beautiful in the glass.

Sorry, okay.

Sometimes the joy just has to come out, and then I'm okay.

And the joy didn't come out yet today.

So now I'm pairing pasta alla norma with Norello.

Mascalese.

Mike, other than the sparkling Norello Mascalese for the podcast that you got to have the leftovers of, this is the first time you're tasting this Sicilian grape.

Yes.

What do you think in its red form?

Well, I like the sparkling.

And this, the red is great with the pasta.

To me, it's kind of like a mixture between a pinot and a granache.

Like it, if those two had a baby, this would be great.

I agree.

Cause you have the cherry notes in there.

It's very cherry.

Yeah.

But it has low tannins, low acidity, no oak.

Has the fruit.

It is very different.

It will forever remind me of this place and this moment.

And now I need a case of it.

Shipped to my house.

Take a little sip after the red sauce.

I haven't even really focused on the food yet because I, I was having a moment.

Oh joy.

It's just joy.

It's just too much joy.

The chew of this pasta, is it bucatini or is it bigger than, did he call it bucatini?

They don't call it anything.

Oh my god.

The texture of this, chew, al dente.

What's your favorite?

I don't know, so much already.

What's your favorite of the whole week?

Stop, I can't.

I can't even.

I can't.

I can't even.

It has to go by day.

I can't even remember what it was.

Apparently it was seeing this wine in the glass.

I did not know that was going to be a moment.

One never knows when these things happen.

So this is their 2019 Merlot Cabernet blend.

Oh, the Merlot and Cabernet is at a beautiful temperature.

New wine, new cheers.

Merlot Cabernet, even this color is quite light.

Wow.

So it's lightly chilled, which is nice.

And this is a perfect example of when we talk about, okay, when he said Merlot and Cabernet, you're expecting fruit, right?

And there is fruitiness, but that is not the leading star.

Remember, we talk about the picture of fruit and then the frame.

This is more about the frame.

With a small picture of fruit in the middle.

This is the perfect example of that.

Especially because we know Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, right?

We have a point of reference.

Norello Mascalese, we don't have a lot of.

Expectation, we don't know.

But with this, we're like, oh, Merlot Cab.

We know what that's gonna taste like.

That's gonna taste like pride.

It's like, nope.

It's beautiful, but it's light and earthy.

I was just gonna say, it's light, but very earthy.

We're gonna say earthy is the frame.

Yeah, very earthy.

Lowercase f, big e, small w.

I don't get a lot of o And then with this meat that has these beautiful herbs and spices, is that a big piece of grilled basil?

Yes.

That leaf.

Yes.

Leaf the size of the palm of my hand.

Charred.

It's grilled basil.

Taste this.

Yeah, doesn't have a lot of flavor.

I think it's more of a garnish.

I thought it was going to taste so aromatic, but nope.

There's a reason we don't eat it fried.

I was like, Oh my God, we're going to have to fry basil at home.

And I was like,

Piece of the stem.

So we will not be grilling basil and eating it.

Uh, definitely just a garnish.

How special that day was, even just.

Piecing this all together for this episode for you today.

It has been so special for me to listen back and relive it and I hope that you enjoyed.

If your travels are taking you to Sicily, again, I highly recommend that you connect with Maurizio.

His own family tour company is called BDM Viaggi.

And I will, uh, put the link in the show notes.

He can create a beautiful tour for you.

And I highly recommend a visit to Mergo Winery.

And, uh, the lunch with the tasting, which was fantastic.

If you are not making it to Sicily anytime soon, but want to experience their beautiful wines and olive oils, check the link in the show notes now, and I will show you how you can acquire and have delivered their beautiful, beautiful products.

As always, thank you so much for listening.

Leave us a like, a review, share this, all the good things.

And until next time, sip well.

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