The Only Wine From the Tiny Island of Mozia!

Dear Friend,

I venture to guess that very few people know of the Island of Mozia, located off the coast of Sicily. I myself, someone who loves Italian wine, especially those from Sicily, had not heard of it. As I have mentioned throughout our previous emails, sometimes I am introduced to wines from our customers as we do a large special order business. If there is a wine you enjoy and you do not see it on our shelves, let us know and we will try to order it for you. When someone orders a case of a wine that I have never heard of, I usually do a little research to find out the wine’s background. When I read the story about this complex, briny white wine grown on a 100 acre island, just off the coast of Sicily, I had to taste this wine for myself.

The small island of Mozia is located a half mile off Marsala in Sicily. While small, it has a giant history. The Phoenicians used it as a trading post around 800 B.C. and it eventually became a thriving city and one of the main colonies of the Carthaginians. Eventually it was taken over by the Greeks at around 400 B.C. and then it sort of disappeared from history for a couple thousand years. It wasn't until the 1700's when some archaeologists were studying the ruins there that they realized this island was the location of the ancient Pheonician city of Mozia.

They use ancient winemaking techniques, they practice organic agriculture, they do not use irrigation and they hand harvest everything. Harvesting occurs early in the morning due to the high temperatures on the island. But the biggest complication is that the island has no winery so they have to carefully send the grapes in small boats across the water which are then transferred to refrigerated trucks that bring them to a winery on the mainland. With all the manual labor involved in making this wine, I am shocked it is so affordable.

If you are interested in today's featured wine, please reply to this email, call your nearest location or click the Shop Now Button to order. Curbside pickup is available. This wine is in stock at all of our locations. Grillo is a thicker-skinned white grape that grows mostly in Sicily. The thicker skin helps protect it from the heat and winds in Mozia. Today's expression blew me away with the complex tropical fruit, finished off with much more acidity than I expected from a wine from such a warm climate. I had this with scallop ceviche which worked great. It would also be nice with most fish, from swordfish to salmon or even pasta with a cream sauce. This is definitely one to try for anyone interested in unique wines or just high quality white wines.

Sincerely,

Alek Leontie

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