Wine List Pick: Eolo (Manhattan, New York)

Date: 23 December 2012
Wine: Murgo 2008 Rosato Brut
Cuisine: Sicilian

Wine List: Eolo, a warm, chef-owned respite in Manhattan’s Chelsea, showcases the wines of Sicily. Carefully chosen, non-Sicilian bottlings make a good showing, but for every one of those, another three Sicilian wines make a proud showing. Whether you scrimp or splurge – and you can do either, you’ll definitely discover a surprisingly broad range of wines from the Mediterranean’s largest island.

Pick: My parents and I sat down for lunch with one of my best pals. Just days away from Christmas, we three ladies were feeling festive, so nothing but bubbly could do. (Dad enjoyed his usual iced tea.) This was an easy open-and-shut case as at the top of list was Murgo’s Rosato Brut. A vintage wine, it is made entirely from Nerello Mascalese grown on the slopes of Etna. For starters, I had stories to share about the grape and the place, especially as I spent 12 days in Sicily in May. Then, there was the vibrant ruby color to kick-up the merriment of the bubbly. Finally, there was the dry attack, robust palate and faint tannins that squarely countered the hearty, winter afternoon feast soon to be laid before us.