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 his noble wine, which is produced in the Eolian or Lipari Islands in three types--one for consumption with meals, one to accompany desserts and the third a liqueur wine (Liquoroso), with minimum alcohol levels of 11.5, 18 and 20 degrees respectively--is one of the most ancient of Sicily. In the 1st century BC, Diodorus Siculus remarked that the vine was introduced by the Greeks, even if the origins of viticulture on the Lipari Islands are much older, as is indicated by the inscriptions on coins of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The coins bear the design of a cluster of grapes, which demonstrates the importance that grape-growing had already assumed in the archipelago.As to the origin of the name Malvasia, an ancient Christian legend is still current on the islands. It refers to the period of the Arab domination of Sicily. According to the tale, a young local farmer wanted to take an amphora of Moscato wine to his father and the priest. Along the road, he met the tyrannical Arab governor of the island, who demanded to see what he had under his cloak. The farmer replied that he was only carrying a jug of mallow juice and prayed to God to transform the wine into mallow juice, saying "malva sia'' (let it be mallow juice). And it became mallow juice, to the disgust of the governor, who insisted on tasting the contents of the jug. In 1890, the great French novelist Guy de Maupassant discussed the Malvasia wine of the Lipari Islands in his book La Vie Errante. "It seems to be syrup of sulfur. For it is precisely the wine of the volcanoes-dense, sugary, golden and with a strong flavor of sulfur that remains on the palate until late at night. It is the devil's wine.'' The Malvasia is made with techniques that have changed little over the centuries. The grapes are gathered when they are extremely ripe and then put out in the sun for 10 to 15 days on large mats made of bamboo canes. They are then crushed with a beam press and the must is fermented in casks of capacities not exceeding 10 hectoliters. The wine is a superb example of Sicilian enology and, like all precious things, it is scarce--in 1984, production amounted to 271 hectoliters. However, a wine with such a long tradition behind it can not be produced on an industrial scale.
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Sicily
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AMARETTI
BACI DI DAMA
CASSATA ALLA SICILIANA
CHIACCHIERE
CROCCANTE
CROSTATA DI FRUTTA
PANZEROTTI AI DUE FORMAGGI
SFOGLIATINE CON RAGUSANO E MIELE
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